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THE SPIRIT'S SMILE. 



J* 



An Indian chief, the red men tell, 
Ere on his drooping eyelids fell 

The sleep of death, 

With latest breath 
Thus prayed : " Great Spirit, ere I move 
To hunting ground in fields above, 
Some token for my people weak, 
Some pledge of blessing would I seek." 






"Well pleased, the Spirit heard his prayer, 
And quivering through the pulsing air, 

His smile of love 

Fell from above; 
And where it touched the waiting earth, 
A lovely lake sprang into birth, 
Whose crystal wave, mid rock and isle, 
Reflects, unchanged, "The Spirit's Smile." 

J. E. HURLBUT. 



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WlNNIPESAUKEE 



AND 



ABOUT THERE. 



Jtestriptms trtf ifjs Jinks IJ&gimt tttj imttrai 



"And to Winnipesaukee's tranquil sea, 
Bosomed in hills and bright with isles 
Where the alder grows, and the dark pine tree, 
And the tired wind sleeps and the sunlight smiles. 



PUBLISHED BY 

BOSTON & LOWELL R.R. PASSENGER DEPARTMENT. 
Boston, Mass., 1880. 

EDWIN MOKEY, President. C. S. MELLEN, Gen'l Sup't. 

LUCIUS TUTTLE, Gen'l Paas'r Agent. 






RAND AVERY SUPPLY CO., BOSTON. 



to Tl l - 



filll 





Illuminated Poem Frontispiece 

Mt. Belknap, from "The Forties" 6 

Chapter Heading — Chocorua, from Weirs 9 

Hooksett Falls (full page) 12 

The Weirs (full page) 20 

Squam Lake, from Shepherd Hill 29 

Views on Squam Lake 31 

Glimpses among "The Forties ' (full page) 34 

"The Forties," looking toward Ossipee 37 

Weirs Station — Endicott Rock — House Boat (full page) . 40 

Windmill and Miller's House, Cow Island (full page) . . 44 

Ossipee Mountain Park (full page) . 52 

A Bit of Shore — Squam Lake 56 

Winnipesaukee Lilies (full page) 58 

Car -Window View — Tyngsboro' Curve (full page) .... 64 

Mary's Arch (full page) 6S 

Map of Lake Winnipesaukee 25 

Map of B. & L. R.R. System Inside front cover 



CONTENTS. 



Frontispiece: Poem — "The Spirit's Smile." 

PAGE 

Chap. I. Geographical and Geologic 9 

II. Historical 12 

III. Surroundings 20 

IV. The Lake Itself 25 

V. Other Lakes: Waukewan — Mixnesquam — Asquam 

— Little Squam — Winnisquam — Smith's Pond . 28 

VI. Islands 34 

VII. Points of Interest 40 

VIII. Summer Resorts 47 

IX. Summer Life 55 

X. Winter Sports 61 

XI. How to Get There , 63 

XII. In the Market 66 




CHAPTER I. 

; So high as heaved the 
humid hills, as low 

Down sunk a hollow 
bottom, broad and 
deep, 

Capacious bed of waters 



THE lake region of New England is one of great beauty and 
attractiveness. Its location being so near the great centres 
of population, and being so easy of access, it is strange that 
its waters, islands and surrounding mountains have not attracted 
thousands where only scores have visited it. It occupies an elevated 
basin about one hundred miles north of Boston and forty-live miles 
south of Mt. Washington. Its outlet is the industrious Merrimack, 
whose historic and beautiful valley supplies the natural avenue of 
approach over the thoroughly equipped and excellently managed 
Boston & Lowell Railroad, one of the oldest and best of the New 
England railways. 

The cluster of lakes, of which Winnipesaukee is the largest, spread 
out in all directions over this interior basin among the high hills and 
grander mountains. They lie on the border of, and extend into, three 
of the counties of New Hampshire. The larger portion of Winnipe- 



10 

saukee, and all of Winnisquam, is in Belknap County ; while the rest of 
Winnipesaukee, and part of Asquam, is in Carroll County; and the 
major part of the latter, with all of Minnesquam and Little Squam, is 
in Grafton County. The outline of the lake basin is extremely irreg- 
ular, which causes long and large bays to indent the shores, coming to 
the very feet of the mountains, and long and large necks of land 
to extend far into the lake ; this irregular contour leaving no very large 
sheet of open lake, although there are two portions of Winnipesaukee, 
much longer than wide, which extend as far as the eye can reach. 
But this peculiarity of the lake, with the great quantity of islands, 
lends a charm all its own, and is its great attraction to summer sojourn- 
ers, as it supplies an unending variety to the landscape and water 
views, with tortuous and ever-changing channels for the boatman; 
while the valley in which the lakes lie is so broad and open that sum- 
mer sailing is not dangerous, as on smaller and more closely land-locked 
lakes, such as sacred Galilee, upon which, as we read, "There came 
down a storm of wind." 

But this great hollow is among the hills which closely hem it in on all 
sides ; and they are one of its chief features of beauty, for turn which 
way one will, while on either of the lakes, the eye will rest on some 
grand elevation which is celebrated in song or story ; and from several 
spots on the lakes and islands, the crown of Washington, the highest 
and grandest of them all, can be seen. 

Prof. Hitchcock, in his report of the geological survey of New 
Hampshire, gives many interesting facts relative to the physical history 
of Winnipesaukee. There are many evidences which go to show that 
formerly its level was very much higher than now, at which period the 
whole group of lakes formed one large sheet of water. He thinks 
that at that period the outlet was either through the Cocheco 
or the Saco River. An observer will at once note that the general lay 
of the surrounding country allies the lake with that section, rather 
than with the south-westerly country where the present outlet flows. 
Although there is abundant evidence of former higher levels, there is 
a surprising absence of terraces such as a prevalent theory supposed 
must have been made if the ocean had overflowed the region during 
the later geologic ages. The only evidence of such a submergence of 
the lake is the presence in it of smelts and cusks similar to those of 
salt waters. 

Prof. Hitchcock says : — "It is the absence of these higher terraces 
that led me to examine the surface geology of this region, and to 
speculate whether this fact would not lead to the abandonment of the 
ocean theory." The few terraces to be found are all the way from Ave 
to one hundred feet above the present level of the lake. In West 
Alton there are two of seventy-five and one hundred feet respectively ; 
at Meredith Village, Centre Harbor Village, Moultonboro' and Wolf- 
boro' there are specimens of these terraces. Probably the lake was 



11 

once one hundred i'eet higher than now, and stood successively at 
levels eighty, fifty-five, thirty, twenty, fifteen and twelve feet higher 
than its present surface. The height of the land separating the lake 
from the Cocheco valley is only seventy-two feet above the present 
level, so it is easy to see that once the outlet may have been in that 
direction ; while the appearance of the present outlet shows evidence 
of having been excavated by running water. There is evidence, also, 
that the outlet was once through Gilford, before the present one was 
worn down below its level. At another period the vent of the great 
basin was probably through Asquam and Little Squam lakes. The 
level of Asquam Lake is now only forty feet above Winnipesaukee ; so 
it was not so very long ago, geologically considered, Avhen there was 
direct water communication and probably the outlet, in that direction, 
and through Squam and Pemigew T asset rivers to the Merrimack. The 
present outlet is almost entirely over hard-pan and glacier-drift depos- 
its, which, with the steep banks, makes it evident that it has been cut 
down many feet by the current. 

Among other interesting geologic facts is that concerning the 
Drift Period, when New Hampshire, with the exception of the cone of 
Mt. Washington, was covered with a sheet of ice. It is evident that 
the ice in the Pemigewasset valley, at a point below Plymouth, was 
turned easterly to Sandwich over Asquam Lake; and the ice over 
"Winnipesaukee crowded south-easterly, restrained by the Ossipee Moun- 
tains till past them, when it turned sharply to the east over the Saco 
valley. This direction in the drift can be discovered by the shores of 
the islands in Winnipesaukee ; most of their north and west shores are 
smooth ledge or sand, while on their east and south-east sides are 
jagged boulders and drift rocks. This is remarkably evident in the 
case of the group of Three Mile, Steamboat, and several other islands. 

No less than ten geologic periods in the history of the lake can be 
traced in the rock formations which surround it. Details of these 
formations and their periods are given in Hitchcock's Geology of New 
Hampshire. 



CHAPTER II. 
HISTORICAL. 

" Yon hill's red crown, 

Of old, the Indian trod, 
And through the sunset air looked down 

Upon the Smile of Grod. 
He saw these mountains in the light 

Which now across them shines; 
This lake, in summer sunset bright, 

Walled round with sombering pines." 




HE earliest accounts of "Wmnipesau- 
kec and its sister lakes are found in 
dim Indian traditions. It was al- 
wa} r s a favorite region with them, 
as was the whole valley of its out- 
let all the way to the see ; and all 
the Indians, from the mouth of the 
Merrimack, at what is now New- 
buryport, to the lake itself, were akin, although of several different 
tribes. At the time of discovery by the English, these various tribes 
were under the general sway of one chieftain, who by his ability had 
secured this preeminence, and by his noble qualities was held in the 
highest respect by both red men and white settlers. 

There is abundant evidence that at no very remote period the whole 
course of the Merrimack was a succession of lakes, as the Winnipesau- 
kee River now is, Long Bay, Winnisquam Lake and Sanbornton Bay 
being only the river spread out over the bordering valley. There is 
evidence that once there were just such sheets of water above Paw- 
tucket falls at Lowell, Amoskeag falls at Manchester, Hookset, 
Garvin's and Sewall's falls ; the latter just north-west of Concord. At 
each of these localities there are now fertile valleys, in the early days 
called intervales, which are undoubtedly old lake bottoms. These 
were the favorite places of Indian settlement, supplying rich, easily 
tilled land for the lazy red men's crops of Indian corn, squashes and 
beans. 

The confederate tribes who occupied this rich river valley were the 
Agawam at the sea, then the Wamesit or Pawtucket, the Nashua, Sou- 
hegan, Namaoskeag, Penacook and Winnipesaukee. The Penacooks 
were the most powerful, and occupied the region about Concord; and 



I.-. 

it was their chief, Passaconaway, who held sway over all these related 
tribes, with the title of Bashaba, meaning the chief sachem, sagamore 
or sagamon, a sort of emperor on a small scale. It was claimed that 
he was a powah, or magician; and it is evident that he was a man of 
.superior mental ability and of uncommon nobleness of soul. 

"Here the mighty Bashaba 

Held his long unquestioned sway, 
From the White Hills, far away, 

To the great sea's sounding shore ; 
Chief of chiefs, his regal word 
All the river sachems heard, 
At his call the war-dance stirred, 

Or was still once more." 

It is probable that the chief called Conway, whom some early ex- 
plorers met on the seashore in the neighborhood of the Piscataqua, 
near Portsmouth, N.H., was this same chief, whose whole name was 
not caught by the white men ; for it is known that he often visited his 
people dwelling on the seashore, having, as many great ones since, both 
a seashore and an inland residence ; a summer and a winter home. His 
name, as once -written by himself, was exactly Papisseconew r a (Pa-pis- 
se-con-e-wa) ; meaning "The Child of the Bear," suggestive of what 
he w r as among his people. Probably, as in many instances among the 
Indians, the name was given him after his manhood exploits had shown 
what was in him. The derivation of the name in the Algonquin tongue 
is Papoesis, a child, Kunnaway , a bear. His tribe was the most power- 
ful; and at a later date, wdien the others had been reduced in numbers 
after their wars with the white settlers, they were merged into the 
Penacooks, and all afterw r ards scattered, some among the Eastern or 
Penobscot tribe, and others in Canada, a considerable number with the 
St. Francis, which was largely the cause of the subsequent ferocity of 
the latter toward the New r England settlers. 

The seashore Indians called the tribes on the upper waters of the 
Merrimack, Nipnmcks, or Fresh Water Indians, the name being derived 
from Nipe, still-water, and Auke, a place. As most of the interior 
Indians visited the seashore at some seasons of the 3 r ear, so most of 
the others Went inland to the very head-waters of the Merrimack and 
the outlet of Lake Winnipesaukee, at the season for shad and salmon. 
The first great place of assembly was at Namaoskeag falls, now Man- 
chester ; then later at the outlet of Winnipesaukee, where there was 
the second largest Indian settlement of the confederated tribes. At 
the lower falls the fish arrived at the time of corn-planting, or about 
May 1 ; but at Namaoskeag, or Amoskeag, they appeared not earlier 
than May 12, and at the lake still later, when the planting was over 
and the Indians had leisure for fishing. For this reason, these upper 
fishing-places w T ere held in highest esteem. The region of the lake, 
at what is now The Weirs, being a place of permanent residence, 



14 

and the resort of many visitors, we should expect to there find many 
memorials of them ; and such has beeu the fact. Their village site 
was on the hill-side west of the outlet of the lake, and just below 
the bridge which is a few rods south of the present Weirs railroad 
station. Mr. Doe, the old citizen who now lives in the large white 
farm-house above the village, used to plow that field where the Indian 
settlement was ; and at regular intervals found collections of small 
round shore stones, which were red, as though they had been exposed 
to great heat. These were their fire-places ; holes in the ground filled 
with the small stones, which when heated and covered acted as the 
brick ovens of the subsequent white settlers. Here also large 
quantities of arrow and spear-heads, and stone mortar pestles and 
hatchets have been found, and one spot which was evidently their 
place of manufacture. 

Potter, one of the best authorities on the Indian history of the 
region, in bis History of Manchester says : — "It is a curious fact in 
the history of the fisheries upon the Merrimack, that while alewives, 
shad and salmon passed up the lower part of the Merrimack in 
company, yet the most of the alewives went up the small rivulets 
before coming to the forks of the Merrimack at Franklin, while the 
salmon and shad parted company at the forks, the former going up 
the Pemigewasset, and the later passing up the Winnipesaukee. This 
peculiarity was owing to the nature of those fish. The alewives 
were a small fish, and sought small lakes or ponds to deposit their 
'spawn,' that were easy of access, warm, and free from large fish, 
that would destroy them and their progeny. The shad was a much 
larger fish, and sought large lakes for spawning, where the water was 
warm and abundant; while the salmon, delighting in cold, swift 
water, sought alone those waters fed by springs, or formed by rivulets 
from the ravines and gorges of the mountain sides, which meandering 
through dense forests, rippling over pebbly bottoms, or rushing over 
rocks or precipices, formed those ripples, rapids, whirlpools and falls 
in which the salmon delights, and those dark, deep, cool basins, or 
eddies in which to deposit its spawn. Hence the fact that alewives 
were seldom found above the forks of the Merrimack, and that the 
salmon held exclusive possession of the cold, rapid, dark Pemigewasset, 
while the shad appropriated the warm, clear waters of the Winni- 
pesaukee, neither trespassing upon the domain of the other." With 
the coming of the fish was also the coming of the shad-fly. Upon the 
building of the Amoskeag dam at Manchester, the fish ceased their visits 
to the upper waters ; but the flies have not yet discovered the fact, 
and annually make their migration, probably in larger numbers 
because there are not so many fish to feed upon the unwary ones. 

Besides the Indian settlement at the outlet of Winnipesaukee, well 
known to the early white settlers, there was at an earlier date a strong 
Indian fortification at what is now East Tilton, on a point of land 



15 

which is formed by the Winnipesaukee River and Little Bay. The 
traveller going north by rail may locate the spot as he leaves the 
station just named, as the line of the White Mountains Division of 
the Boston & Lowell Railroad crosses the neck of land which was 
enclosed in the old fort, as does also a mill-race from a dam across 
the river, which dam was built with the stones from the old fort 
walls. There were several of these walls, one without the other, the 
inner ones covering the passageways in the outer ones ; the whole is 
said to have given indication of considerable skill in construction. 
The best research points to the fact that it was one of a chain of 
forts built by the Penacooks and their eastern allies, the Pequawkets, 
the lands of the latter being north and east of the Ossipee Mountains ; 
it is known that there was a similar fort near the Ossipee ponds. The 
fact that "oak trees of large size," according to Dr. Weston of 
Sanbornton, were found "standing within its walls when first dis- 
covered," point to a time before the white settlement as the period 
of the construction of this fort at East Tilton. It is altogether 
probable that it was built by the Penacooks and their dependents, the 
AVinnipesaukees, to protect their fishing interests against the Mohawks, 
who made occasional incursions into this beautiful valley. This 
view is further strengthened by the fact that there was once a fierce 
battle between these tribes at a spot a little farther north. 

After leaving East Tilton, going in that direction, the site of the 
old fort and the river is crossed, and soon the railroad skirts a large 
body of water lying on the left of the line. This is Sanbornton, or 
Middle, Bay, which at its upper or northern end is separated from 
Lake Winnisquam, or Great Bay, by Mohawk Point. It bore this 
name before the permanent settlement of the surrounding region ; and 
there is a distinct tradition that once the Indians had here a bloody 
fight. It was the Penacooks and their dependents, the YVinnipe- 
saukees, against the Mohawks, in which the latter were the complete 
victors. Another tradition says the fight began at the fort below 
at East Tilton, and was ended here. An interesting account of the 
whole story may be found in Runnel's History of Sanbornton. 

The readiness and generosity with which the kings of Europe 
made grants of territory in America to their subjects is amusing to 
us, but was an endless source of trouble to many of the early settlers, 
particularly those of New Hampshire. In 1G0G King James I. divided 
all of what is now the United States between the London and the 
Plymouth Land Companies, the latter being granted all of what is 
now New England. In this company were Sir Fernando Gorges and 
Captain John Mason, to whom their associates subsequently made 
large personal grants, Mason receiving two — one in 1621 and another 
in 1G22, the second including all the lands between the rivers Mer- 
rimack and Sagadahock or Kennebec, and extending back to the 
St. Lawrence and the great lakes. 



16 

In 1027 the same company made a grant to Sir Henry Roswell and 
others of a tract from three miles south of every part of the Charles 
River (which separates Cambridge and Boston) to three miles north of 
every part of the Merrimack ; probably this was with the consent of 
Mason, although there is no record of such approval, for this grant 
extends three miles north into Mason's second grant. Then to sub- 
sequently still farther entangle the question of ownership, a purchase 
was made for the Rev. John Wheelwright from the red lords of the 
soil, of the territory lying between the Merrimack and Piscataqua 
rivers, and extending as far west as Manchester on the south and 
Rochester on the north. Wheelwright was not in accord with the 
theological sentiments of the Massachusetts Bay people, and with his 
associates desired a new place of settlement, and founded Exeter. 
Here were three separate interests to a part of the territory, and they 
were constantly clashing for many years. All of the lake region 
was in Mason's second grant from the Plymouth Company ; while 
that to Roswell, the Massachusetts Bay grant, on its north border 
overlapped Mason's southern border three miles all the way from 
the ocean westward ; while it was an open question for a long time 
whether the Merrimack began at what is now Franklin, where the 
Winnipesaukee and Pemigewasset rivers unite, or at the sources of 
those rivers, which are respectively Winnipesaukee and Profile lakes. 
Some Indians told the English that the Winnipesaukee was the true 
Merrimack, but Passaconaway said it was the Pemigewasset; while 
the Masonian claimants held that it was formed by the junction of the 
two latter streams, and properly began at "The Crotch," as it was 
called, now Franklin. If the Merrimack extended above this point, 
the Massachusetts claim might include all of Lake Winnipesaukee 
south of a line drawn east and west three miles north of The 
Weirs, or the line might even extend beyond the present Profile 
House in the Franconia Notch. The strife between Massachusetts, on 
the ground of the grant to Roswell, and Mason and his heirs, was long 
and heated ; and it was during this controversy, when it was claimed 
that the Winnipesaukee River was properly the Merrimack, and that 
the head-waters of that river were at what is now The Weirs, that 
the notable expedition was sent out by the Massachusetts government 
which left its memorial in the inscription on "the Endicott Rock," of 
which more particular mention is made in Chapter VIII. of this 
publication. Massachusetts finally succeeded in establishing her 
governmental authority over the province of New Hampshire; and 
after many years of legal strife, prosecuted by the legal heirs of 
Capt. Mason through several successive generations, their claim was 
compromised by granting them only the then existing waste lands; 
but these constituted a large tract, and in it they sold many rights, on 
which some of the towns now surrounding Lake Winnipesaukee 
—ere founded, as Sanbornton, Wolfboro', Tuftonboro'. Moultonboro* 



17 

and others. Mason's direct heir was Robert Tufton, Ins grandson, for 
whose brother John, Tuftonboro', on the cast side of the lake, was 
named, he being given that tract of land. 

It is a singular fact that during the early years of the New England 
settlement the powerful tribes of its central portion should have 
been governed by such a chief as Passaconaway. If he or his son 
Wonnalanset, much like himself, had been like Philip, the Narragansett, 
the history of central and eastern New England might have been 
different. The very ability which raised him to the chieftainship of 
the confederated tribes seems to have led him to discern that the white 
men were to become owners and masters, and led him to seek the 
friendship of the English settlers, and secure the best possible treat- 
ment for his people. Rev. John Elliot, " the apostle of the Indians," 
visited him, and preached the gospel to his people; and Passaconaway 
seems to have been truly converted to Christianity, with a considerable 
number of his people. Potter, in the Histoiy of Manchester, says of 
him: — '-lie was a wise, brave and politic Sagamon. He gained Ids 
great power and control over the Indians of New England by his 
wisdom and bravery, but more by his great cunning. He was an 
accomplished juggler, and being a man of superior intelligence, he 
turned his juggling skill to the best account for his own personal 
aggrandizement, and that of his tribe. * * And when this character 
w T as united with that of Powah, or Priest and Physician, as it was in 
Passaconaway, we can most readily account for his great power and 
influence." 

"For that thief had magic skill, 
And a Panisee's dark will, 
Over powers good and ill. 

****** 
Burned for him the drifted snow, 
Bade through ice fresh lilies blow, 
And the leaves of summer grow 
Over winter's wood." 

Tradition has preserved so many 

" Tales of him the gray squaw told, 
When the winter's night-wind cold 
Pierced her blanket's thickest fold, 

And the fire burned low ami small, 
Till the very child abed, 
Drew its bear-skin overhead, 
Shrinking from the pale lights shed 

On the trembling wall : " 

and so many stories have come to us of strange deeds wrought 
by the 

"Wizard Lord of Penacook," 

that the best authorities among our antiquaries agree that the 
explanation is that he had some skill in jugglery. He was always 



18 

the friend of the English, as was also his son Wonnalanset who 
succeeded him; and although the latter was so unjustly treated by- 
some of the grasping whites that he withdrew from the river and 
lake valley and made his home with the St. Francis Indians of Canada, 
yet he restrained his followers from acts of retaliation. Before his 
withdrawal and abdication as Sagamon in 1677, the settlements had 
gotten such a foothold that the subsequent fierce wars on them, led 
by Kancamargus, a grandson of Passaconaway, and nephew of 
Wonnalanset, did not destroy them, but did shatter and disperse 
all the tribes which had formerly dwelt in the Merrimack valley and 
on the shores of Winnipesaukee. After the massacre of Cochecho, or 
Cocheco, June 27, 1689, the remnants of the Penacooks and Winni- 
pesaukees fled to Canada, and never returned to inhabit their lands ; 
but did often enough return in the next eighty years to make forays 
and secure captives and plunder, while they always left a mark of 
blood. 

In these times of war Winnipesaukee was a great rallying-place for 
the various bands bent on fire and pillage. The waters of the lake 
supplied them with inexhaustible supplies of fish in summer or winter, 
the surrounding mountains were so many observatories from which to 
locate the settlers' homes by the rising smoke, while the water-ways 
or the ice supplied easy methods of approach in various directions. 
And most of the marauclering bands which attacked the New Hamp- 
shire and eastern and central Massachusetts settlements came from 
Canada by way of Winnipesaukee. Between the St. Francis River in 
Canada and the head-waters of the Connecticut there was an easy 
carrying-place ; thence down the latter river to the region of what is 
now Haverhill, N. H., then across the ridge near Moosilauke to 
Warren, down Baker's River to the Squam, up which they went 
to Little Squam and Asquam lakes to the narrow divide of about a 
mile between Asquam and Long Pond, which empties into Lake 
Winnipesaukee, down which their canoes could quickly glide, and in 
the coves and on the islands of which they could easily hide for almost 
any length of time. 

In those days the islands and all the surrounding shores were 
covered with a dense growth of heavy timber, such as Whittier 
describes in his recent poem, " The Wood Giant " : — 

"For broad-girted maples, wide-limbed oaks, 
Centennial pines and birches. 

At last to us a woodland path, 

To open sunset leading, 
Revealed the Anakin of pines, 

Our wildest wish exceeding." 

Before 1760 a few stray settlers had come into the region, but only 
the more daring, on account of the Indians. In 1764 a few families 



19 

settled in what is now Gilmanton, and thence slowly extended them- 
selves into what is now Gilford and Sanbornton, while a few others 
located in what is now Wolf boro'. The growth was slow till after 
the Revolutionary War, when it increased fast and soon surrounded 
the whole lake. Very soon an onslaught was made on the majestic 
timber of the region, which was stripped from the lands, the water 
facilities supplying easy means for getting it to market. 

"Their tortured limbs the axe and saw 
Have changed to beams and trestles ; 
They rest in walls, they float on seas, 
They rot in sunken vessels." 

On many of the shores, points and islands excellent farms were 
found, and agriculture and lumbering have been the principal pursuits 
till recently. But now the tide of summer travel has set in this 
direction, and a new kind of life is surrounding and floating upon 
this loveliest of New England lakes during the summer months, while 
the busy sounds of preparation for it are heard during the rest of the 
year ; for the winter and spring is the time for the enlargement of 
hotels, the building of cottages, the repair of old, and the building 
of new, steamboats ; while the woodman's axe is heard altogether 
too often on the islands and projecting points. 



CHAPTER III 



SURROUNDINGS. 




"And haply gain, through parting boughs, 
Grand glimpses of great mountain brows, 
Cloud-turbaned, and the sharp steel sheen 
Of lakes deep set in valleys green." 

the chief beauties of Winnipesaukee 

is the "great mountain brows, cloud- 
turbaned," which surround it on all 
sides, and overlook its waters and 
islands ; they are high enough to be 
grand ; are not bare, but covered with 
forests ; while the distances are great 
enough to give them a rich coloring. 
For pleasing effects of light and shade 
and impressiveness, they cannot be 
surpassed. One of the best places 
from which to view and locate them, 
the surrounding towns and the basins 
of other lakes, is the Winnecoette 
Hill, above The Weirs village. On its summit is the Winnecoette 
House ; a name which is of Indian derivation, meaning "The Beautiful 
Place of Pines ; " and the adjoining grove of magnificent white pines 
shows the appropriateness of the designation. The hill is covered 
with fertile fields to its summit, from which one of the most extensive 
and comprehensive views may be had, including the course of the 
Winnipesaukee River toward the south, with its waters expanded in 
several places into bays and even lakes ; on the east the wide expanse 
of Lake Winnipesaukee, with its "leafy islands," among which may 
be seen the steam, sail, horse and row boats, and the territory of the 
encircling towns, out of which rise the grand mountains standing up 
against the sky in all their majestic beauty. Between these noble 
sentinels of nature and the shores, villages may be seen, some of them 
extending up the slopes of the hills, and others retiring into the 
valleys between them. Fourteen of these towns touch the cluster of 
lakes, and eight of them border on Winnipesaukee. 

The Weirs village, which will be below one standing on the 
Winnecoette Hill, is in the north part of the town of Laconia, which 
preserves the name that Capt. John Mason gave to the second grant of 



21 

New Hampshire lands that he received from the Plymouth Company 
of England, and in which this township was included. Most of its 
territory lies between Long and Round Bays of the Winnipesaukee 
River and Lake Winnisquam. It is the shire town of Belknap County, 
and its principal village on the southern border, where the waters from 
Winnipesaukee fall into Lake Winnisquam, is large and handsome. 
The town was formerly a part of Meredith. 

From the Winnecoette Hill, looking east across the outlet of Lake 
Winnipesaukee, is the town of Gilford, which supplies a long and 
beautiful coast line, and supports the Belknap or Gunstock Mountains. 
Both of these names are applied to the cluster of peaks, or to the high- 
est one, which has an elevation of 2,394 feet. The rock formation is 
mostly sienite of various textures. The view of lakes and surrounding 
country as seen from its summit will richly repay the toil of the ascent ; 
for besides the nearer mountains to the north, behind which the tops 
of the Franconia and White Mountains ranges rise as a background, 
one may see to the south and west, Monadnock, Kearsarge, Cardigan, and 
Moosilauke, while on a clear day the ocean is also visible. Gilford was 
originally a part of Gilmanton, in which were the first settlements of 
the lake basin. Along the shores are some very sightly and attractive 
spots for summer homes. Governor's Island, one of the largest and 
most attractive, is a part of this town. Alton, next east, surrounds 
two sides and the lower end of the long, narrow bay of that name, and 
borders the narrow south-eastern end of the lake. It was originally 
called New Durham Gore, being a part of New Durham, which lies east 
of it. It was named by a settler from the English town of Alton. 
There are three post-offices for different portions of the territory, 
whose surface is much broken by the elevations and beautified by 
" The Bay " and numerous ponds. 

We come next to the large and fertile town of Wolfboro', which 
lies around the east-by-north-east corner of the lake, and extends up 
the northern side some distance. It is in Carroll County, and is one 
of the oldest towns bordering Winnipesaukee. Its large village is 
beautifully situated on two slopes overlooking Wolfboro' Bay. It 
Mas named for Gen. Wolfe, "the hero of Quebec," where he fell 
in battle Sept. 13, 1759. A long neck of land projecting into the lake 
almost meets a similar one of Tuftonboro', and forms a large bay 
behind them. These two towns have recently received a large legacy 
from John Brewster, of Cambridge, Mass., to build and endow an 
academy in Wolfboro', his native town, for the free use of the inhabi- 
tants of that place and Tuftonboro', without restriction as to "age, 
sex or color, provided only he or she is of good moral character." 
Also a liberal bequest to build a town hall and public library for Wolf- 
boro', and a fund to care for and preserve it and purchase books; 
while a large additional sum was given to improve the free schools of 
the two towns, and " for the use, support and maintenance of the 



22 

deserving poor and persons needing aid in the said towns of Wolf- 
boro' and Tuftonboro'." These things, in connection with the natural 
scenery, the institutions of religion and worthy inhabitants, show 
progress in a return toward Paradise. 

To the south-east of Wolfboro' is Copple Crown Mountain, 2,100 
feet high, which may be easily ascended, and lies in the two towns of 
New Durham and Brookfleld. Besides the view it supplies of the 
whole expanse of Winnipesaukee looking north-west, and of all the 
mountains which surround it, there is also another line view to the 
south and south-east of the mountains which border the Merrimack 
River valley, and of the more level parts of the State through the 
Cocheco valley to the sea. Just north from Copple Crown is another 
mountain about 1,000 feet high, in the town of Brookfleld, known by 
the unique name of Tumble-Down-Dick, from which there is a fine 
but less extensive view. 

Tuftonboro' is next north, and is a good farming town, bordering a 
large part of which is " The Back Side " of the lake, otherwise known 
as Moultonboro' Bay. The place was named for John Tufton, the 
grandson of Capt. John Mason, to whom the celebrated " Mason Grant " 
was made, of which details are given in Chapter II. 

Moultonboro' comes next, and extends to the north-west end of the 
lake. The place was named for Col. Jonathan Moulton, who with 
sixty-one others bought it of the Masonian proprietors, and settled 
here in 1763. In this town are the Ossipee Mountains, towering over 
the north-east side of Winnipesaukee. The highest peak is known as 
Mt. Shaw, and on its sides, on a great shelf of the range, is " Ossipee 
Mountain Park," 800 feet above the lake level, which is the summer 
resort of Mr. B. P. Shaw, of Lowell. Upon climbing any of the Ossi- 
pees one will discover that these mountains do not belong to any con- 
necting chain, but compose a separate mound. The formation is 
coarse and trachytic, or spotted, granite, with " enormous thicknesses 
of variously-colored falsites or feldspars." 

Prom the summit of Mt. Shaw, 2.95(3 feet above the sea, a wonderful 
panorama is spread out. Here 

" Through the vista the pine slopes make, 
We see the smile of the sunlit lake." 

Not only is there a view of the great basin, with its lakes, mountains 
and towns, but also of the Sac-o valley on the north, with its river- 
course, and Ossipee and Silver lakes; and beyond, in the State of 
Maine, a glimpse of historic Lovewell's Pond and beautiful Sebago 
Lake, with mountain peaks in all directions. 

Just west of Ossipee is lied Hill, 2,025 feet high, another isolated 
mountain, from the summit of which there is a well-known and cele- 
brated view, which includes not only Winnipesaukee, with its glory of 
water, islands and environing mountains, but also an entrancing view 



23 

cf the three Squam lakes which lie to the south-west. The top ridge 
of Red Hill is shaped like the letter L, the upright part bordering the 
oast shore of Lake Asquam, and the base being parallel to Winnipesau- 
kee. The mountain is covered with soil and forests nearly to its sum- 
mit, along which there are several line bluffs. Bog iron-ore has been 
found in the brooks on the slopes. Its brilliant autumn foliage has 
supplied its name. 

Turning around the north-west end of the lake to the west side, we 
come to Centre Harbor, much of which overlooks the water, but only 
a small section of which touches it. The pretty village of the same 
name, which lies at the head of " The Harbor" and lake, is partly in 
this town and partly in Moultonboro', the dividing line of the towns 
passing through about the middle of the village. Here there are excel- 
lent hotels, which are the resort of many summer visitors. The first 
settlers located in this town in 17G5, coming by boat up the Merrimack 
with their families and goods. It was formerly a part of Meredith, 
and was incorporated in 1873. 

Meredith comes next, and completes the circuit, as on the south it 
touches Laconia, from which we started on this survey. It borders 
nearly the whole of the north-west end of the lake, the long arm of 
which, known as Meredith Bay, separates the town into two parts. 
It was originally called New Salem, and included the present towns of 
Centre Harbor and Laconia ; the first settlement on its territory was 
near the present Weirs village. Its extensive shore-line supplies many 
attractive points for cottage locations, among them Spindle Point, 
which is shown in "middle distance " of our sketch of " Chocorua," 
heading Chapter I., and is one of the most notable in the lake, as 
viewed from the Winnecoette Hill. Looking across the mouth of 
Meredith Bay to the north-east, the appropriateness of its name 
will be seen at a glance. It is long and narrow, and the glint of the 
waters beyond is seen through the clump of tall, scraggy trees which 
adorn it. 

The towns which border other lakes of this high and wide plateau 
will be spoken of in connection with those sheets of water. Besides 
these, there are some others of importance not far from the lake, such 
as Ossipee, which is located north of the towns of Wolfboro', Tufton- 
boro' and Moultonboro', a part of it being on the north and east of the 
Ossipee Mountains. Next west of Ossipee, and exactly north of the 
highest part of the Ossipee range of mountains, is Tarmvorth; and west 
of that, directly north of Bed Hill, is Sandwich, so many places in which 
have been brought into conspicuous notice by the poet Whittier ; as 
the Bear-Camp River — 

" Broad-flowing, swift, and still, 
As if its meadow levels felt 
The hurry of the hill ; " 

or, in the " Voyage of the Jettie," where the 



24 

" Skilled seafaring man " 
"From the gray rocks of Cape Ann," 

came " with his dory " to " wed the Bear-Camp water," which boat is 
described as 

•'Floating on, she knew not whither, — 
The tawny sands beneath her, 
The great hills watching o'er her;" 

and the story told with such exquisiteness in "Among the Hills," 
where specimen spots of this region are described as 

" Set in the fair, green valleys, purple-walled," 

and a home he visited, where 

" The sun-brown farmer in his frock 
Shook hands, and called to Mary ; 
Bare-armed, as Juno might, she came 
AVhite-aproned from her dairy." 

Beyond the shore towns, on the opposite or southern side of the 
lake, is Gilmanton, which was the first settled of any part hereabout, 
and included Gilford and part of Laconia and Belmont. The latter is 
south of Lake Winnisquam and east of the town of Tilton. Gilmanton 
was named for twenty-four of its first settlers of the Gilman family, 
and is a rich farming region, has an excellent academy, founded in 1794, 
and iron works, with Lougee's Pond, from the bottom of which there 
was formerly taken, with long tongs, considerable quantities of bog- 
iron. 

The towns which have been described as surrounding Winnipesaukee 
lie in two counties, Belknap and Carroll, the dividing line of which 
passes in a general direction from south-east to north-west through 
about the middle of the lake. Ossipee is the shire town of Carroll 
County. Both of these counties were originally parts of Strafford 
County, from which they were separated in 1840 ; Belknap being named 
in honor of the distinguished Rev. Jeremy Belknap, D.D., the author 
of a history of New Hampshire, which is still a standard authority for 
the early days of the Granite State. Laconia is the shire town of this 
county. 

This brief sketch of the surroundings makes it evident that the 
summer resident or tourist will find a limitless variety of land and water 
scenery, while the lakes, bays, channels, mountains and towns cannot 
all be explored in one season. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE I, A K E I T S E L V . 




" And more abundant waters given 

From that pure lake, ' The Smile of Heaven. 



OMEHOW there has got abroad a tradi- 
tion, which most persistently flourishes, 
that the meaning of Winnipesaukee is 
" The Smile of the Great Spirit." The 
notion is poetic ; and our poets have 
helped propagate the conceit, including 
our peerless Whittier, as in the quo- 
tation above. But it is not true that 
the red men were much given to 
poetry; and it is very well known 
that the true meaning of Winnipe- 
saukee is "The Beautiful Water of the High 
Place ; " from Winne, beautiful, nipe, water, kees, 
1 high, auke, place. 
While antiquaries have dug this out of the dust of the past as a 
well-established fact, yet every poet adopts the other conception, and it 
will continue to live and thrive, for the lake is beautiful enough to 
suggest the "spirit's smile." It was the opinion of Edward Everett 
that there was no fairer sight in the world than the view of Winnipe- 
saukee from the hill back of Centre Harbor. Many who have seen this 
view, with the beautiful islands, have been struck with the resemblance 
to Loch Lomond in Scotland. Something more than half of the 
lake's surface is taken up with islands, which are mostly covered with a 
variety of trees, giving spots of emerald on a shield of burnished 
silver. 

The name of the lake has been spelled in a multitude of different 
ways. E. P. Jewell, Esq., of Laconia, has collected specimens of 131 
different spellings. The most approved and now generally adopted 
form is that given in this book. 

The great basin in which Winnipesaukee lies comprises about 350 
square miles. A large portion of this area was once covered with its 
waters ; but since the channel has been worn down through the present 
outlet, the level has been so reduced that now its water area is only 
69.8 square miles; or, including Long Bay, or Lake Paugus, between 



26 

The Weirs and Lake Village, 71.8 square miles. The length of the lake 
is 19 miles, its widest breadth 8£ miles. The length of the shore-line, 
including Long Bay, is 182.89 miles. It is generally shallow; the re- 
duction of its level a few feet more would greatly increase the size of 
many of the islands, give many new ones, and add vast meadow T s to many 
of the shores. While no systematic soundings have been made, it is 
believed that no part is over 200 feet deep ; this is surprising, when we 
consider the number of high and steep hills which surround it. At the 
lower end of Lake Paugus, or Long Bay, at Lake Village, there is a 
dam owned by the Lake Company, whose top is 502 feet above the sea 
level; this regulates the flow of water from the lake, and makes avail- 
able a depth of six feet for the summer needs of the manufactories on 
the Winnipesaukee and Merrimack rivers. The waters are remarkably 
pure ; and more than once the proposition has been made to draw the 
water supply of the city of Boston from this source ; there is also an 
abundance of fish. 

While the broken shore-line and the numerous islands of irregular 
shape and irregularly scattered about lends beauty, yet there is more 
than one broad expanse of water which suggests an inland sea. There 
are two portions which are called "The Broads." These are the two 
wide expanses of clear lake which may be seen from two different 
points; one on the steamer route from Centre Harbor to Wolfboro', 
and the other from The Weirs to the same place. From Centre 
Harbor there is a straight water-way of nearly twenty miles, and when 
the wind is right to blow lengthwise of this course in either direction 
it rolls up high waves and a considerable "sea." The two Broads, 
which merge together in the middle of the lake, with the numerous 
long ba} r s and smaller coves spread out so irregularly in all directions, 
often causes the map of the lake, or a view of it from some overlook- 
ing hill, to suggest a huge crab with his broad back and long and short 
legs or claws. There are three great bays of the lake proper. Mere- 
dith Bay, otherwise known as North-west Cove, is on the west side, 
The Weirs harbor being a part of it. Moultonboro' Bay on the 
east, sometimes called "The Back Side," is large enough to be a 
lake by itself, Moultonboro' Neck, which separates it from the lake, 
being very long ; 

"Where the Great Lake's sunny smiles 

Dimples round its hundred isles, 

And tlie mountain's granite ledge 

Cleaves the water like a wedge." 

The majestic and beautiful Ossipee Mountains immediately over- 
shadow it. Alton, or Merry Meeting, Bay is at the extreme south- 
east end; its length, and narrow width, with high hills on either 
side, has led to its comparison to a Norwegian fiord. Each of 
these bays has a beauty peculiar to itself, and possesses local attrac- 
tions. Besides these three large ones, there are many smaller ones; 



27 

among them Long Bay, which is really only a wide expanse of the 
Winnipesaukee River, lying south of the outlet of the lake. Another 
is Wolfboro' Bay, at the head of which is the principal village of the 
town of the same name. Another is Tuftonboro' Bay, formed by 
Wolfboro' and Tuftonboro' Necks. Two others are Eighteen and 
Nineteen Mile Bays, being parts of Moultonboro' Bay, and indenting 
the shores of the town of Tuftonboro', their respective names indicat- 
ing their distance from Alton Bay village. There are many other 
smaller bays and numberless coves, all of which are very beautiful, 
.and each of which will soon have summer homes on its shores. 

No stream of any considerable size flows into the lake, but there are 
many mountain brooks. It is probable that in geologic times, if not 
since man was created, the outlet w r as elsewhere than at present, as 
described in Chapter I. Now it is at The Weirs, where its waters 
placidly flow from a wide, shallow cove through a short, narrow stream 
into broad Long Bay, otherwise known as Lake Paugus; from thence 
over a dam at Lake Village into a stream for a short distance, when 
there is another spreading out of the waters into Round Bay, out of 
which they flow by a stream with a considerable fall through the vil- 
lage of Laconia into Winnisquam Lake. At both Lake Village and 
Laconia there are valuable water-powers, which are improved by a 
variety of manufactories. The current continues through the lower 
end of Lake Winnisquam, otherwise known as Great Bay, through a 
strait into Middle, or Sanbornton, Bay, out of which it labors its way 
•over dams and through mills on the stream at East Tilton, passing the 
site of the old Indian fort, and falling into Little Bay, which is the 
last of the wide expanses of the river called bays or lakes which now 
remain. It is evident that all along the course of the Merrimack 
below, there were in former clays just such outspreadings of the stream 
as these now existing on the AVinnipesaukee, which latter makes a 
rapid descent — 

" Till, rolling down its wooded bunks between, 
A broad, clear mountain stream, the Merrimack, is seen." 

The Winnipesaukee uniting at Franklin with the Pemigewasset, whose 
waters come from the Squam lakes and the Franconia Mountains, 
forms the Merrimack, which has been about equally the delight of 
Indians, white settlers, poets, manufacturers and the locating engineers 
of railroad lines. And through this valley every one ought to approach 
the Winnipesaukee Lake to secure the most delight of the growing 
effects of landscape, stream and lake views. 



CHAPTER V. 



OTHER LAKES. 




The turquoise lakes, the glimpse of pond 

And river track, and, vast, beyond 

Broad meadows belted round with pines, 
The grand uplift of mountain lines." 

r EW miles south-west of Lake Winni- 
pesaukee is Lake Winnisquam, or 
Great Bay. The line of the White 
Mountains Division of the Boston 
& Lowell Railroad skirts its south- 
eastern end for several miles, and 
from the car windows a wide and 
'/llmU* ' refreshing view of it may be had 

in the summer season. Its Indian name is from Winne, beautiful, 
squam, water, " Beautiful Water," and is just as appropriate as that of 
Winnipesaukee , " Beautiful Water in the High Place." Its clean, 
sandy beaches give it an attractive look, while its wooded upper shores 
and the high hills which hem in the northern end, add to its beauty. 
It has but few islands ; two or three forming a cluster at the north end, 
upon which there are some cottages used for summering or as winter 
quarters for fishing-parties. There are several steam-launches on the 
waters, concerning which the Boston & Lowell Railroad station agent 
at Laconia can give all needed information, and also about the extra- 
ordinary fishing-grounds of these waters. There is also for use on 
this lake, a house-boat of the most approved style, built in 1885, 
which can be rented on reasonable terms. Concerning these unique 
contrivances and conveniences more will be found in Chapter IX. 
The winter fishing on this lake is particularly attractive, because the 
grounds are easily accessible from Lake Village, or Laconia, which 
borders the lake, or from other places, as the railroad brings the 
sportsman to the very shores, and there are hotels in the last-named 
village open all the year, of which the excellent Eagle House is near 
the railroad station. The peculiarities and fascinations of the winter 
fishing on this lake are given more in detail in Chapter X. 

On a green bluff overlooking Lake Winnisquam, about a half-mile 
south of Laconia station, are two boarding-houses of unsurpassed 
location. One of these is the " Vue de l'eau," recently built and 
becoming popular. 



29 



Smith's Pond, which is east of Wolfboro', is large enough to be 
called a lake, and possesses attractions of its own which arc, however, 
eclipsed by those of the larger and better-known lakes. It has several 
islands; one of them, known as Stamp Act Island, suggests the early 
history of the North American Colonies, and the British oppression 
winch led to the Revolutionary War. 

The Squam lakes are a cluster of three, lying in a basin of their own 
immediately north-west of Winnipesaukee. Through Blackey's Cove, 
lying a littlo to the east of Centre Harbor, and Long and Round Ponds, 
which empty into it, there is a water-way to within about a mile of 
Lake Asquam, at a point right under the wall of Red Hill ; but between 
Round Pond and Lake Asquam there is a dividing ridge ; and the latter 




SQUAM LAKE, FROM SHEPHERD HILL. 



lake is between twenty and thirty feet higher than the pond, and forty 
feet higher than Lake Winnipesaukee. Undoubtedly the outlet of the 
large lake was once in this direction, through the Squam Lake basin. 

Although so closely related to Winnipesaukee, and forming a part of 
its hydrographic basin, yet the Squam lakes have peculiarities. Separ- 
ately or taken together, they are so much smaller than the great lake, 
and are so deep set among the mountains that they have a charm all 
their own. Their name of Squam is the general Indian name for water, 
It was very common, as witness Swampscott near Lynn, Squam harbor 



30 

and village on the north side of Cape Ann, Agawam, a corruption of 
the same name, and its connection with the names of the mountain 
lakes, the whole region of which was called by them Wonnesquam- 
saukee, " The Pleasant Water Place." 

The three Squam lakes surround Shepherd Hill on three sides. 
This is a grand, round elevation of rock, covered with a thin layer of 
soil; it is treeless from the top half-way down, where, around the 
skirts of the noble hill, are woods of evergreens and annuals. This 
immense dome of a hill is 800 feet above sea-level, and on its summit is 
the Asquam House, one of the most attractive places of the whole 
region. This has always been a favorite spot with the poet Whittier, 
and in the summer of 1885 he pointed out to our artist his favorite 
view in the lake and mountain region from a ledge of rocks looking 
through a vista of pines out upon Asquam, and beyond, where "there 
towered Chocorua's Peak." It was concerning this rock-crowned hill 
that, many years ago, before the present hotel was built, he wrote the 
poem of " The Hill-Top." 

" The burly driver at my side, 

We slowly climbed the hill, 
Whose summit, in the hot noontide, 

Seemed rising, rising still. 
At last, our short noon-shadows hid 

The top-stone, bare and brown, 
From whence, like Gizeh's pyramid, 

The rough mass slanted down. 

I felt the cool breath of the North; 

Between me and the sun, 
O'er deep, still lake, and ridgj- earth, 

I saw the cloud-shades run. 
Before me, stretched for glistening miles, 

Lay mountain-girdled Squam; 
Like green-winged birds, the leafy isles 

Upon its bosom swam." 

In Asquam there are about eighty islands ; the waters are generally 
shallow, and in the dry season many shoals are bare. The view as 
seen from the " Hill-Top," where the Asquam House now stands, is 
one to charm an artist ; the green islands and mountains are well set 
oft' by rich red, orange and yellow of the shore weeds which edge the 
water, while the distant mountains are so high as to be bare, highest 
of all being the picturesque white brow of Chocorua. A pretty steam- 
launch plies on the lake ; and some of the islands are the resort of 
summer camping-parties. East of the lake is Red Hill, while on the 
north-west side is a line row of high hills called The Domes, and back 
of these and overlooking them, mountains called The Squam Range, 
ending at the north-east end with Israel's Mountain ; and still beyond 
these, the towering peaks of the Sandwich Range, standing from left 
to right in the following order : Sandwich Dome, Tripyramid, White- 



::i 



face, Passaconaway, Paugus, and ending with Chocorua, the grandest 

of them all; all of them 3,500 feet high, and some of them exceeding 
4,000 feet. Around the north-eastern corner of Shepherd Hill there is 
a row of cottages occupying situations of wondrous beauty, and on the 
Whittier Rocks, where the poet's favorite seat has been, another cot- 




^ 



tage is to be built the present 
season. 

These lakes have been spok- 
en of as a cluster. Asquam is 
very much the largest ; Minne- 
squam is so small that it would 
not count for much ex- 
cept as it serves to fill 
out the water picture as 
seen from the Asquam 
House, on the summit 
of Shepherd Hill. It 
lies to the south-east 
of the hill, and until 
recently bore the name 
of White Oak Pond: its 
shores have some rich 
color in mid-summer; 
its level is twelve feet 
above Asquam, which 
gives a good saw-mill 
water privilege at the 
outlet. 

To the south-west is Little Squam, much larger than Minnesquam 
but considerably smaller than Asquam. The hills on its east side are 
high, steep and wooded ; on its west margin the high road winds along 
the shore through Holderness to Ashland Station, on the White Moun- 
tains Division of the Boston & Lowell Railroad. The outlet of Asquam 
is a narrow, crooked stream, a few rods in length, with steep, high 



32 

banks on either side. Recently the channel has been opened to allow 
the passage of Captain Cummings' little steamer, which plies on the 
two larger lakes. A short distance west of this outlet of Asquam into 
Little Squam is the spot where the first Episcopal Church of New 
Hampshire was located, in the town of Holderncss. Perhaps this may 
account in part for the fact that Shepherd Hill, near by, is so popular 
with the bishops, clergy and laity of that denomination, one of whom 
is to occupy the Whittier Rocks site with a cottage. 

Far to the south-west of Little Squam can be seen the high summit 
of Cardigan piercing the clouds. On the north-west shore of Asquam 
there is a Aery pleasant road, much used in the summer by pleasure 
parties from the hotel. It skirts the shores of Carnes' Cove, in which 
there is a small rocky island on which a retired Boston sea captain has 
built a queer structure shaped like a block-house of old days. In 
this the owner dwells as a hermit, holding little communication with 
the outside world. Its peculiar look reminds one of the " Hutted 
Knoll " in Cooper's Wyandotte. On the slopes of the Domes, which 
slant toward the Avest shore of Asquam, there are some farm-houses 
occupying breezy sites. One is occupied by a retired Nashua news- 
paper editor, and another by a former New Bedford whaling captain. 
These are their summer homes, and here they cordially receive visitors. 
There is room for more of the same class on these delightful hill-sides. 
One of these houses is old and quaint, and contains many pieces of old 
furniture and natural curiosities. 

If one is on Shepherd Hill when a storm sweeps over the mountains 
and lakes, as our party was, he will be able to interpret our Quaker 
poet's " Storm on Lake Asquam " as never before : — ■ 



Thunderous and vast, a lire-veined darkness swept 
Over the rough pine-bearded Asquam range; 
A wraith of tempest, wonderful and strange, 

From peak to peak the cloudy giant stepped. 

One moment, as if challenging the storm, 

Chocorua's tall, defiant sentinel 

Looked from his watch-tower; then the shadow fell, 
And the wild rain-drift blotted out his form." 



Directly south of the Squam lakes, but not seen from them on Shep- 
herd Hill, is Lake Waukewan, lying Avest of Meredith Village, and 
skirted for miles by the track of the "White Mountains DiAdsion of the 
Boston & LoA\ r ell Railroad. It is nearly surrounded by forest, is very 
attractive with islands and sandy beaches, abounds Avith black bass, 
and has its outlet at Meredith Village into Meredith Bay or North- West 
Cove. 

Long Bay, just south of The Weirs, only a broad part of Winni- 
pesaukee River, has recently been very appropriately designated as a 



33 

lake, and named Paugus, for one of the celebrated Indian chiefs of the 
early settlement days of this region. It has two or three very pretty 
islands, and its cast high shore is a charming place for cottages. It 
has been proposed to build a new shore road along the eastern hill- 
side, near this sheet of water, between Lake Village and The Wiers. 
If it shall be done, it will supply one of the most enjoyable drives of 
the whole lake country. 




CHAPTER VI. 

THE ISLANDS. 

" How start to light the clustering isles, 

Each Bilver-hemmed ! How sharply show 
The shadows of their rocky piles 
And tree-tops in the waves below." 

ISLANDS of every size, shape and quality- 
are to be found in this lake, and an 
immense number of them. It was 
formerly said that there were 365, 
V^ one for every day in the year. If 
[^ only those are counted which have 
vegetation, then there are not so 
many; if every mossy rock which 
rises above the water, then there are 
many more. The following table will show their comparative size and 
area : — 

Number of islands in Lake Winnipesaukee of greater area than 1000 acres . . 1 

of greater area than 500 acres, and less than 1000 acres . . 2 

« « '« 100 " " 500 " 7 

50 " " 100" . . 6 

« « " 10 " " 50 " 25 

less " 10 " 22& 

Number of islands in Lake Winnipesaukee 267 

" " in Long Bay (Lake Paugus) 7 

Total 274 

Long Island is the largest, Bear Island the second, Cow Island the 
third, and Governor's the fourth in size. Each of these four has arable 
land, where there have been large farms ; only two of them are now 
cultivated, which are Governor's and Long Island; the latter being 
connected with Moultonboro' Neck by a bridge. On these islands there 
are occupied farm-houses and tilled land. Cow Island is given up to 
sheep and cattle, its one old house a dilapidated ruin, in which the 
writer's party found the proverbial "black sheep of the flock," who 
stamped her heels in astonishment and then took them across the door- 
sill and over the neighboring stone wall in a hurry. On Bear Island 
there were formerly four good farms; now only one farm-house, of 
late years vacant, and no tilled land. This is a very attractive island, 
and there is a wharf at the north end, on the course of the steamer 




GLIMPSES AMONG "THE FORTIES.' 



35 

''Lady of the Lake," near by which there is an excellent picnic grove. 
The island was named for a bear which was once shot in what is called 
the Gulf, on the west side, midway of its length. Here it is nearly 
divided, a narrow neck uniting the two parts. On the southern end is 
Aunt Dolly's Point, of whom more is said in the next chapter. Here 
the ruins of her cellar and a few of the chimney bricks, with her stone- 
walled sheep-pen, may be seen ; all in view from the deck of the " Lady 
of the Lake" in passing. From the highest part of the southern end 
of Bear Island there is a view of Mt. Washington. Scattered over the 
surface there are patches of forest, a considerable part being white 
pine. There are several flue sandy beaches. 

Governor's Island was for some years called Davis Island, from its 
owner. It is connected by bridge with the Gilford shore, and a good 
road leads to The Weirs, about two miles distant. There are large 
pastures and several large groves of splendid pines. Its present owner 
is Stilson Hutchins, of Washington, D. C, a former resident of New 
Hampshire, who, knowing the beauties of the Winnipesaukee region, 
has chosen this place for a summer home. He has had a resort on the 
main-land opposite the island, known as "The Beaches," where there 
are separate buildings for the dining-room, the parlors, etc. ; the 
sleeping apartments being small cottages of one or two rooms each ; 
all strung along a lovely beach under magnificent white pines. Mr. 
Hutchins is now building a fine mansion on the summit of the island, 
which will overlook the lake and command an extensive view. This 
is probably the most valuable island of all in Winnipesaukee, being so 
large and high, with fields and forests, and connected with the main- 
land, near The Weirs, where all railroad trains stop. 

The island next in size is Rattlesnake, in the south-eastern part of 
the lake, near which the steamer passes on her route from The Weirs 
to Wolf boro'. Other large ones are Welch, Timber and Mark, lying 
nearly in the middle of the lake, and all of them attractive. Timber 
was so named from the large quantity of timber cut from it some years 
ago. A large part of it is now bare. On its west side are two very 
pretty coves just separated by a long, high, bold ledge, which would 
be a superior location for a cottage. Mark Island has the highest land 
in the lake, rising in a round cone some 250 to 300 feet. Its cap is a 
huge ledge, and from its summit the writer and the artist stood while 
our guide and pilot, Capt. B. F. Brown, of Centre Harbor, born on 
Long Island, and who has spent his life in boating on the lake, pointed 
out and named sixty of the well-known islands which could be seen in 
a sweep of the horizon. The cone is bare, with forests of fine pine 
timber on the lower parts of the island. 

On the west side, looking toward The Weirs, is the prettiest cove 
of the whole lake. It deeply indents the shore, which rises in high 
banks on the sides. The water is deep till within a few feet of the 
end, when it suddenly shoals, with a bottom and a crescent-shaped 



36 

beach of the finest and whitest sand ; large trees overshadow and make 
it a most attractive spot in summer. The island and cove is a gem ; 
the view from the summit commands every part of the lake and all the 
surrounding mountains ; a hotel will probably be located here at no 
distant day. 

Stone Dam Island is another large one lying close to Meredith Neck, 
and projecting into the lake helps form The Weirs harbor. Its name 
is from the fact that many years ago a stone causeway was built con- 
necting it with the main-land, but which is covered in time of highest 
water. The island rises to a considerable height, and is nearly covered 
with forest growth. 

Between Cow and Long Islands is Little Bear, a dome-shaped island, 
on which there is a maple orchard of more than a thousand trees, sug- 
gestive of sweetness as well as natural beauty. Besides these there 
are several other individual islands which have many attractions, such 
as Smith's, Follet's, Camp, Jolly, Steamboat, Birch, Six Mile, Black Cat 
and Three Mile. Some of the latter belong to clusters or groups. Of 
these there are several in the lake. 

Coming from Centre Harbor, and about two and a half miles from 
that place, are the Beaver Islands, of which there are four which may 
be properly termed islands, and an islet besides. One is large, and all 
are wooded. Between the large one and the four smaller ones is a 
long, narrow channel which is literally as deep as wide, and possesses 
a peculiar attraction. The Three Mile Islands form another group, 
and possess every charm ; they are so many miles from Centre Harbor ; 
on the one side is the course of the steamers from that place to Wolf- 
boro', and on the other side the course from the same place to The 
Weirs. There are two islands and two islets in this group ; the larger 
is a fine mass of rock, covered with soil and a young growth of forest; 
on its east side, separated from it by a channel about ten feet deep and 
twenty-five wide, is another pile of rock with a few bushes and scraggy 
trees. Close by, to the south-east, is the island second in size, lower, 
rock-bound, dry and level. On its west shore there are pretty sandy 
beaches, and a little gem of an islet a few rods away, covered with 
trees, as is its larger mate; this latter, second in size of the group, is 
known as Hawk's Nest. Bear Island landing is about three-fourths 
of a mile south. 

The Steamboat Islands make another group in the middle of the lake, 
near which is the course of the steamer ' ' Lady of the Lake " between 
Wolfboro' and Centre Harbor. These, like so many of the Winnipe- 
saukee islands, have a variety of shore ; smooth, flat ledge, rims of 
broken glacier-drift rocks and sandy beaches ; the water between these 
islands is so shallow that in the dry season, when the lake is drawn 
down, one may cross on the stones from one to the other. The name 
comes from the wreck on one of them of the first steamer on the lake, 
the story of which will be found in the next chapter. 



37 



But the most attractive of all the clusters is " The Forties." Strictly 
speaking, some of the large islands, such as Camp, Sandy, Follet's, etc., 
belong to this group; thus, counting every one, there are more than 
forty of them. The waters surrounding them are shallow, and here 
are some of the best fishing-grounds of the lake. But there is a cluster 
of smaller islands lying close together, irregularly located, with rocky, 
sandy and even muddy shores. If these and all the rocks sticking out 
of the water are included, there is all of forty. And in particular, 
these are " The Forties," justly celebrated for their charming beautj r , 
winding channels, wonderful views and good fishing. Lying all about 
are huge boulders sticking out of the water, with a tuft of moss and 

bushes. A row of these 
lying between the group 
and the larger islands on 
the west have been called 
"The Giant's Stepping 




THE FORTIES, " LOOKING TOWARD 
OSSIPEE. 



Stones." On the west side of 
"The Forties" navigation is dan- 
gerous for anything but small 
boats ; but for one fond of boating, nothing can 
be more delightful on a summer's clay than to 
feel one's way about these islets, into the coves, 
through the " Guts," as the long, narrow pass- 
ages between them are called, with a steam-launch or row-boat. 

A peculiarity of these Winnipesaukee islands was spoken of in the 
first chapter. The action of the glacier period, when a great, slowly- 
moving blanket of ice was over this whole region, is very evident here. 
Most of the islands are ledges thrust up out of the lake, and their west 
and north-west sides generally a smooth ledge or a sandy beach ; here 
there are very few loose rocks. But on the east and south-east sides, 



38 

which was the direction of the drift, the whole shore is a rim of 
broken, jagged boulders. As the huge sheet of ice moved along it 
scooped up and pushed before, or with it, all loose stones or parts of 
the ledge on the west and north-west sides ; crowding up over the 
summits of the islands, it scraped them clean also, and scratched 
grooves in the ledges which may still be seen in many places where 
they are bare. Then bending down over the east and south-east sides, 
vast quantities of these stones and boulders were dropped out of the 
under side of the ice blanket when it hung over the ridge of the 
island; this accounts for the fact that so many of the islands are 
smooth ledge or sandy on one side, and so hemmed with ragged rocks 
on the other. 

Most of them have points of ledge where the water is so deep that 
steam-launches, and even steamers of considerable size, may touch 
their very noses to the ledge with safety. This was repeatedly done 
by Capt. Brown's "River Queen," and the writer and the artist, and 
even the lady and children of the party stepped ashore with ease ; and 
the same island may have, a few rods away, a pretty cove with a fine, 
white, sandy beach on which small boats may be drawn up. Such 
islands are superior for cottage homes. And if they lie near the deep 
water channels where the regular steamers have their course, to which 
a small boat may put out to give or take a passenger, then their advan- 
tages are still more apparent. 

Some years ago the Lake Company, which owns the dam at Lake 
Village which regulates the level of Winnipesaukee, made a survey of 
it, on which all reliable maps are now based. In doing this they named 
every island which had hitherto been undesignated, and thus dignified 
every small rock which bore a clump of bushes or a tree. Thus one 
not far from The Weirs is known as "One Tree Island," and another 
about two miles south of Centre Harbor as " Rebecca's Garden," which 
is a round rock, perhaps three feet above the water, and ten feet across 
it, on which there is a clump of low bushes ; these are the smallest in the 
lake designated as " islands ; " smaller ones are " rocks," or " ledges." 

Several of the larger islands once had inhabitants, as Long Island 
now has; but many years ago most of the farms and houses were 
abandoned, and on much of the land a forest growth has since sprung 
up ; but the elms which formerly stood in the cleared fields and about 
the houses still remain and tower above the common forest growth. 
This gives a singular effect to a number of the islands, particularly to 
Bear Island, where the fact is most prominent. It shows what an out- 
spreading, tall giant the elm is among trees. On several of the islands 
there are alternate patches of various woods. One large section of a 
side may be covered with the evergreen pine, and next to it a large 
section covered with annuals, oaks, maples, poplars, etc. ; this alter- 
nation of forest gives a pleasing effect. In most instances there is a 
fringe of trees along the margin, which gives the boatman a delightful 



39 

shade on a hot day, many a shady beach of clean sand for bathing, and 
as the chapter's motto has it, " shadows of * * tree-tops in the 
waves below." Our artist reveled in these effects. 

It is a singular fact that many of these islands are not annexed to any 
town, and are untaxed ; a veritable paradise for tax-dodgers ! Tn A.D. 
1799, New Hampshire had some kind of a spasm, for in that year four 
large islands were annexed to towns : viz., Stone-Dam and Great Bear 
to Meredith, near to which they lie ; Long Island to Moultonboro', with 
the " neck " of which it is connected by a bridge about five rods long, 
and Cow Island to Tuftonboro', uear the "neck" of which this lies, 
but separated by a deep-water channel. The State was not smitten 
with another such spasm till fifty-nine years afterwards, in 1858, when 
Whortleberry, Birch, Farm and Little Bear islands were annexed to 
Tuftonboro'. A few other islands are parts of neighboring towns ; 
but several of the large islands in the middle of the lake, and a multi- 
tude of small ones, are unannexed, and pay no taxes. 



CHAPTER VII. 

POINTS OF INTEREST. 

" Every sober clam below her, 
Every sage and grave pearl-grower, 
Shut his rusty valves the tighter; 
Crow called to crow complaining, 
And old tortoises sat craning 

Their leathern necks to sight her.' 




all the steam-launches on the lake, the 
summer party of the writer and the 
artist chose the ' ' River Queen. " Like 
some people, she was "homely, but 
good ; " and the former quality was 
owing to the latter, for she had been 
so busy all the season she had had no 
time in which to "slick herself up" 
with paint and varnish ; with a good 
body or hull, a sound heart in the 
shape of a good engine, and a clear 
brain in the head of her excellent 
owner and captain, she proved her good qualities, and her homely 
looks were forgotten. And on a pleasant day in August, the writer, 
the artist, a lady, a boy, a parson, and the captain and crew set out on 
a cruise on the Beautiful Water in a High Place. Going to the more 
unfrequented places, off the course of the regular routes of the 
steamers, we secured many of the less-known beautiful views which 
the artist has so faithfully sketched. And it was this penetrating of 
retired and not often visited nooks, coves and channels with our 
homely but faithful "Queen "that so disturbed the clams and aston- 
ished the crows and tortoises, as the chapter motto describes ; and 
it revealed the numerous points of interest which are to be hereafter 
described. 

The traveller may " stop oft*" at The Weirs, take the " Lady of the 
Lake," which excellent steamer runs in connection with the trains of 
the Boston & Lowell Railroad, and on a regular trip see from her deck 
some of these more prominent places ; but the sojourner at a hotel or 
boarding-house, or best of all, at shore or island cottage, will get the 
most satisfaction from a lake trip, if, with a congenial party, a steam- 
launch is used; allowing one to go through the shallow waters, cruise 



41 

among the islands, anchor, land or sail at his own will. Such a cruise 
of several days' duration was enjoyed by the before-mentioned party. 
The reader may follow its course on the route of the steamer "Lady 
of the Lake," as marked on the map, starting from The Weirs, and 
laying the course to Wolfboro', thence to Centre Harbor, and returning 
from that place to the point of departure. The captain of the " River 
Queen" is B. F. Brown, of Centre Harbor. lie was born and reared 
on Long Island, and has spent his life lumbering, rafting and boating 
on the lake ; probably no man living knows its waters better than he ; 
he knows the location of every rock and shoal, the depth of cvciw 
channel and cove, the best fishing-places, and the history and tradition 
of every island and of the families which have lived on them. 

Starting from the village and summer resort of The Weirs, one 
may see the Endicott Bock near by, in mid-channel of the lake's 
outlet, and just below the bridge spanning that outlet the location of 
the old Indian weirs, by which the place got its name. Of these 
mention will be made in subsequent chapters. Sailing out from the 
Boston & Lowell Company's dock, one looks up North-west Cove, or 
Meredith Bay, on the left, which is wide and long, its east shore 
ending with beautiful Spindle Boint, just outside of which is Bitch- 
wood Island. Looking to the right, we see the low-lying Endicott 
Bock and the mouth of Winnipesaukee Biver; above it, a little to 
the south-cast, rises a high hill crowned by farm-houses, one of 
which is that of Capt. Wadleigh, the courteous commander of the 
"Lady of the Lake;" the large white buildings stand out plainly on 
the green hill-side, from which there is a very impressive view of the 
0?sipee Mountains. Lying at the mouth of The Weirs harbor is 
Eagle Island, on which there is a cottage nearly hidden by the trees ; 
on the right is the channel between Governor's Island and the main- 
land ; on the latter a grove of large white pines and a sandy beach. 
This is Bendleton's Shore, and under the pines is a cottage. The 
course has been north-east ; it now changes to south-east, and rounds 
Governor's Island, whose great pastures and pine woods set it off 
well. On the left Timber Island is soon passed ; large, and now 
bare, but not long ago covered with a superb forest. A little farther 
along on the right the pilot points out a few rocks just out of water, 
and a ripple, which shows a shoal. It is a large and treacherous 
one, and once a large steamer got upon it. 

"Xo island, but rather the skeleton 
Of a wrecked and vengeance-smitten one." 

Fabulous stories have been told about its occasional appearance and 
disappearance, and a few years ago these were set afloat in the public 
prints by a conscienceless newspaper correspondent. Within the 
memory of the living it was an island, with trees ; but being composed 
of sand, the continual beating of severe storms wore it away, and the 



wash from it has made the long bars which extend far into the lake 
and annoy the pilots. These shift somewhat from year to year, and 
require careful watching. The only appearance and disappearance is 
caused by the low water of summer and high water of winter and 
spring. The derivation of its name is on this wise : In the last 
century, when the belief in witchcraft had not wholly died out, a 
Gilford man was crossing the lake on the ice, and having imbibed a too 
generous supply of intoxicants got bewildered as night came on, and 
in the dusk marched up to a great hollow tree then standing on this 
island. Mistaking it for a dwelling, he gave it several smart raps, 
which gave back such an unearthly sound to him, that he was fright- 
ened and thought the place bewitched. Hence from that time onward 
it has been called Witch Island. 

Looking to the opposite or left side, up the lake, a multitude of 
islands, with glimpses of water between, may be seen; and here Welch 
Island is soon passed, and we are out into " The Broad," where there 
is a wide and impressive view of the size of the lake. From this 
point a glimpse of the cone of Mt. Washington can be sometimes 
seen ; and here we note the grandeur of the surrounding mountains 
which now loom up in majesty on every side. While we are locating 
and recalling these, of unique and common names, we have got abreast 
of a green conical island called Diamond from its shape. From this, 
also, Mt. Washington is in view, and everything else about the lake 
that is pleasing to the eye; formerly there was a hotel upon it, which 
was subsequently moved, and is now the main part of the "Hotel 
Weirs." Just beyond is the large green Rattlesnake Island, so named 
because that reptile is found here, and nowhere else on or about the 
lake. Marvellous stories are told of their quantity and size. They 
have been seen swimming about it, and always in pairs. Many boat- 
men and old residents about the region tell what they have heard; 
Capt. Brown, our pilot, tells what he personally knows, and the 
listener's hair almost seems rising at the narration ! The island rises 
to a greater height than any other except Mark Island, is 150 acres in 
extent, and remarkable for having upon it all kinds of forest trees 
common to this region. Between it and the Alton shore are two other 
islands — Little Rattlesnake, of respectable size, and Red Head. Just 
beyond we have a look to the right, down into the long Alton, or 
Merry Meeting, Bay, which is like a fiord. Passing a small island 
called Parker's, we round Wolfboro' Neck and Se well's Point, and 
arc in beautiful Wolfboro' Bay and harbor. At the landing here the 
steamer "Lady of the Lake" remains overnight. 

Steaming out of the harbor, and passing this time to the north 
of Parker's Island, the bow of the "River Queen" is turned due 
north-west, and we see the twenty-mile view of the larger "Broad," an 
almost straight clear course to Centre Harbor. We pass Wolfboro' 
Neck on the right, and look through the narrow strait that separates it 



43 

from Tuftonboro' Neck, the latter shaped like a " crook-neck " squash ; 
behind these "necks'" we see Tuftonboro' Bay, long arms of which 
penetrate both south and north, and all about which are fertile farms. 
The captain tells of a sheet of water a little beyond, known as 
Dishwater Pond. There's no accounting for names. 

Diverging to the right of the steamer course marked on the map, 
we come to Cow Island. Capt. Brown brings his launch up to and 
touches a iedge where there is bold water; on this rock he has been 
many times as boy and man, and on to it we directly step; the 
writer, the artist and boy leave the rest of the party to the indulgence 
of the vast quantities of huckleberries on the shore, while they go 
through the woods out into the great pasture, and giving a wide berth 
to a herd of cattle, some of whom are suspected of inhospitable 
feelings, the summit is reached, about 150 to 200 feet above the 
lake level. Here is the old windmill which is such a conspicuous 
landmark in this part of the lake, and whose appearance the artist 
has so faithfully shown. Soon after the war of 1812, Paul Pillsbury 
was sent to this island by the owners, and erected the buildings, 
including this mill, the tower of which is of wood, octagonal in 
shape, peaked top, and still of sound, solid frame, and here he became 
a celebrated breeder of cattle. The quaint old house has fallen to 
decay, and is now a sheep-pen. The clump of blasted lilac bushes, a 
few stunted apple trees, with the remains of mother Pillsbury's herb 
garden, in the shape of catnip and wormwood, and father Pillsbury's 
pest, the Canada thistle, remind one of former home-life, when the 
Brown boys used to row or skate over from Long Island, and spent 
many a pleasant evening in the old low-studded kitchen, where the 
fire-place is still seen and up which the fierce winter winds used to 
make the fire roar on this summit. These winds are fast playing havoc 
with the old barn. The place is a spot to linger about, while the 
imagination reproduces the family who once made it their home, 
among whom was "Paul," the father, and " Solomon," a son. There 
are two high parts of the island nearly separated by coves ; it com- 
prises about 350 acres, and on the south end is "Berber's Pole" cove, 
a very lovely place. The view from its hill-top is extended, and in- 
cludes the "Back Side," or Moultonboro' Bay, into which access is 
had through a narrow channel separating Cow and Little Bear islands, 
and which will be spoken of in a subsequent chapter. 

For the circuit being made, the course now lies to the north-westward, 
between Sandy and Ragged islands, and around the southerly end 
of Long Island. Here on this largest of the islands, comprising 
over 1,000 acres, there are numerous farm-houses and two summer 
hotels. Capt. Brown points out his birth-place, a low-browed cottage 
on the bare top. On the left, or west, are "The Forties," strung 
along for quite a distance in the middle of the lake ; among them the 
Steamboat Islands, close to which the " Lady of the Lake" passes. 



44 

Here a long rocky bar extends from the southern end. The steamer 
"Belknap," the first built on these waters, was one day towing a raft 
of logs which drifted her on to the rocky shoal ; soon after a gale 
sprang up, and in spite of all efforts to get her off, she pounded to 
pieces, and the remains of the hull may still be seen on the bottom. 
This party had been charged to get a piece of her timbers, and the 
attempt was made in a small boat, riding on the waves of just such a 
southerly gale as fastened her there, and which gave the party a vivid 
impression of the cause of the Belknap's fate. After many tossings 
and whirlings about, shipping of waves, and narrow escapes from 
duckings, it was decided that a calmer day would be better. Beyond, 
we pass the Six Mile group of three islands, being so many miles from 
Centre Harbor. The larger of these is attractive, rising some distance 
from the water, with some large forest growth. The water is deep 
all around it, with a fine sheltered cove with sandy beach on the 
north-east. These are on the right of the steamer route, as is also 
Five Mile Island, and on the left Bear Island, some four miles long, the 
second largest in the lake ; beyond this the Three Mile group on the 
same side ; on the right is Black Cat Island, named for such an animal 
once shot there, and which has a deep cove with muddy bottom on the 
north side, where there is good pickerel fishing. Near where the 
Wolfboro' and Weirs steamer routes come together is "Rebecca's 
Garden," a small round rock with a tuft of low bushes, which is one 
of the two smallest spots in the lake called islands. About this the 
following romance has been supplied. One of the early settlers had 
several daughters, the loveliest of whom was Rebecca; she had a 
choice garden which her father's cattle one day ravaged ; in consola- 
tion, he offered her any one of the numerous islands he owned in the 
lake which she might select. Her sisters immediately clamored for the 
same dower, which he granted, giving Rebecca, however, the first 
choice ; her sisters seemed so envious, she chose the smallest, this 
bush-covered rock ; the others greedily selected the largest and best in 
their father's possession. The story soon got abroad, when the most 
thrifty young fa mer of the region was attracted to one so unselfish, 
wooed and won her. Hence it came to be said, "Rebecca's Garden," 
after all, had the largest and best yield. We cannot vouch for the 
truth of the story. 

The approach to Centre Harbor shows many points of interest on 
island and shore ; on the latter, to the right, several camps will be 
seen in the summer season, on attractive points, with good fishing 
grounds near by. Centre Harbor is spoken of in a subsequent 
chapter. 

Now turning about and going south from this place to The Weirs, the 
course lies between The Beavers and the Three Mile group. To land on 
these in August is to discover vast quantities of huckleberries and all 
varieties of blueberries, while the great black bass can be seen swim- 




WINDMILL AND MILLER'S HOUSE — COW ISLAND. 



45 

mini? about the rocks. Just beyond, on the right, close to the Meredith 
shore, is Pine Island, with a good point of ledge surrounded by bold 
water, nearly opposite Bear Island landing. Pine Island is a superior 
place for a cottage home. As just indicated, across from it on the left 
of the steamer's course to The Weirs, is Great Bear Island; and at 
its north end a dock, at which the "Lady of the Lake" will touch. 
By its side this party saw a queer craft, to be described subsequently. 
Just up from the landing on the crown of the island is the only 
remaining farm-house, which it is proposed to make into a boarding- 
house. This end of Bear Island is particularly favorable for cottages, 
for here is a wharf for the regular steamers, by which communication 
with the outside world may be had several times daily. The ground is 
high, with some excellent groves by the lake-side; farm supplies may 
be secured from Mr. Solomon Lovejoy, owner of the farm here and 
another on the neighboring main-land, as he is also of the queer craft 
before mentioned, which he designed and built himself; then excellent 
beaches and deep waters alternate along the shores, and fine views 
can be had of Belknap, the Ossipees, Bed Hill and several of the 
Sandwich Range beyond. About half-way down the west shore is 
"The Gulf," where the bear was shot which gave the island its 
name; in this gulf are some pretty islands, and about its shores sev- 
eral nice sandy beaches. 

The south-west end, which we see in passing, is "Aunt Dolly's 
Point." Here are the ruins of her home, as previously described. She 
was a character; and innumerable stories are told of this strong, 
muscular woman, one of which will indicate the nature of many. On 
a certain occasion she had rowed the ten miles to Lake Village ; and 
learning that a horse-boat was going up the lake, she asked to have her 
skiff towed, offering in payment to sing for the entertainment of the 
crew. The narrator of this story was there, then a small boy, but 
well remembers the shouts of laughter at her vigorous songs, "which.'' 
he says, "were neither psalms, nor sung to psalm-tunes!" Now a 
huckleberry pasture surrounds the site of her house; in the cellar, and 
around the old well, catnip grows, a reminder of Aunt Dolly. After 
listening to all the narrations about her, one will wish she could have 
had other surroundings and opportunities, when her vigor might have 
made her outshine many others who have passed for "honorable 
women." 

On a height of land in the rear of Aunt Dolly's location there is 
a fine view of the Sandwich Dome, White Face, Chocorua, and 
occasionally of Mt. Washington. On the right, after passing this 
point, is Horse Island, a small patch lying off the end of Meredith 
Neck, and named for a horse which broke through the ice near it and 
was drowned. The south end of Meredith Neck has a fine sandy 
beach, with a margin of noble white pines. The south-west point is 
narrow, and projects into the lake; by its side is a small island a few 



46 

feet in diameter, on which stands a lone tree ; hence the name of both 
islet and point, "One-Tree Island" and "One-Tree Island Point." 

Now passing the points of Stone Dam and Eagle Island, we again 
cross the mouth of Meredith Bay. The basket of provisions long 
since all eaten, the ice-water all gone, the party surfeited with sight- 
seeing, tired and with almost voracious appetites, yet reluctantly 
leave the launch and her captain, and seek the " Hotel Weirs," or take 
the carriage of the Winnecoette House to its breezy and cool 
height. In no way could one better enjoy a week than with such a 
steam-launch, in which there is room for sleeping, and an oil stove 
on which to cook food ; and by which means the many points of 
interest may be leisurely seen, and camps and fish- fries made on the 
island shores. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SUMMER RESORTS. 

' Still, when the sun of summer burns, 
My longing for the hills returns; 
And northward, leaving at my back 
The warm vale of the Merrimack, 
I go to meet the winds of morn, 
Blown down the hill-gaps, mountain born, 
Breathe scent of pines, and satisfy 
The hunger of a lowland eye." 



<&77^?^ 




HITTIER'S "longing" and "hunger 



of a lowland eye " can be satisfied 
at any of the summer resorts about 
this lake, whose region is the para- 
dise of New England. The wise 
traveller coming here from Boston, 
New York, or points farther south, 
or from Canada, the Green or White 
Mountains, will not fail to take the Boston & Lowell route; and doing 
so, will naturally stop at The Weirs. This place was a noted resort 
long before the white man came. In that earlier time there was a 
large Indian settlement here, located about a quarter of a mile south 
of the present railroad station, south of the bridge on the western hill- 
side. 

" Here by this stream in days of old 
The red men lived who lie in mould ; 
The leaves that once their history knew, 
Their crumbling pages hide from view. 
Canoeless lies the lonesome shore, 
The wigwam's incense wreathes no more." 



There was here a permanent village, but in early summer, at the shad- 
fishing season, it received a great influx of visitors, when, as now, 
whole families came together ; after the great assembly at Namaoskeag, 
now Manchester, in the middle of May, there was another here. They 
called the place Ahque'd&ukenash, from Ahque, to stop, and Auke, a place; 
thus stopping-places, or dams ; this being the plural form. When the 
white men first heard it they caught the name from the guttural sounds 
of the Indians, and wrote it variously Aquedoctan, Aquedocta, Ahque- 
dochtan, Ahquedokan. Its most common form among the early set- 



48 

tiers was Aquedoctan. The word means exactly the same as our word 
weirs, a dam or stopping-place for taking iish. The reason of the 
Indians giving this name was because these weirs were permanent. 
Winnipesaukee, as it flows out of the lake, is not variable as at other 
places ; and as there was no sudden rise with angry current to carry 
dams away, the red men built the weirs here with more care than else- 
where. Such contrivances which are built on the sea-shore or in tide- 
water streams are usually of poles and brush woven into wicker-work ; 
but those at Aquedoctan were of stone, and quite skilfully constructed. 
There was a hard, pebbly bottom into which it was almost impos- 
sible to drive stakes, and the water hardly ever being over two feet in 
depth, large stones were placed in the current about a foot apart, to 
which wicker-work was fastened. These stones remained permanently, 
not offering obstruction enough to the current to cause any annoyance, 
and were used by the white settlers after the Indians had gone. The}' 
remained till about 1830, when the outlet of Winnipesaukee was deep- 
ened to allow the passage of the steamer Belknap, which was being 
built at Lake Village. The shape of these weirs was much like the 
letter W, the upright facing up stream toward the lake, and the lower 
points open about two feet ; the walls on either side running toward 
the shore, and the middle part of the W being so many cages into which 
the shad crowded and were easily caught in dip-nets, by spearing, or 
even by hand. The refuse of these fisheries was spread over the corn- 
fields on the adjoining hillsides. There were similar weirs at several 
other places on the Winnipesaukee River below. These were used for 
shad-fishing in May and June, when that fish came up from the sea, fat 
and plump for their spawning in the lake. In September, when they 
went down stream, they were thin and lean; but not so the eels which 
then migrated with them ; they were in their prime ; and the same 
weirs, with an additional contrivance, were used for their capture. 
.From the lower points of the W-shaped arrangement, which were left 
open, necks or passageways were built about six or seven feet long, and 
at their lower end holes dug two to three feet deep and three or four 
feet across, in which wicker-work baskets were sunk. Into these the 
slippery eels would drop, and out of them vast quantities would be 
taken. 

When the outlet of the lake was about to be deepened for a steamer 
channel, as above related, a dam was thrown across the head of 
the stream ; and at that time it was discovered that a large, flat 
boulder, which was only a few feet above the water, had an inscrip- 
tion on it. The discoverers were Daniel Tucker, president, and 
John T. Coffin, cashier, of the Meredith Bridge Savings Bank, which 
institution was interested in the building of the steamer Belknap. 
The rock was about twenty feet in circumference, and so deeply 
imbedded in the gravel that only its top surface had been visible: 
and if it had not been for the building of the before-mentioned 



4'.) 

temporary dam it might have remained unknown. The inscription 
was as follows : — 

K I S W 

vv r ioiin 

ENDICVT 
GOV 

As soon as this discovery was known, the fact was recalled that 
when the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Government were trying to es- 
tablish their line three miles north of any and every part of the Merri- 
mack, from the sea to the river's source, they sent out -commissioners 
to locate their line. Their contestants were the Mason heirs, as re- 
lated in Chapter II. These commissioners were told that the Merrimack 
extended beyond "The Crotch," now Franklin, where the Pemige- 
wasset and Winnipesaukee rivers unite to form the former stream, and 
that its true source was Lake Winnipesaukee. Willing enough to be- 
lieve that which carried the Massachusetts line so far north, the com- 
missioners came to Aquedoctan; and it is supposed that the surveyors 
set their instruments on this flat boulder just at the mouth of the lake's 
outlet. 

The order of the "Gov. and Co. of Massachusetts Bay" authorizing 
the exploration was the following : — 

"31 May 1652. For the better difcovery of the north line of our 
pattent, it is ordered by this Court, that Capt. Symond Willard & Capt. 
Edward Johnfon be appoynted as commiffioners to procure such artifts 
& other affiftants as they shall judge meete to goe with them, to And 
out the moft northerly part of the Merimache River, & that they be 
supplyed with all manner of neffeffaryes by the Treafurer fitt for this 
journey, & that they ufe theire utmoft skill and abilitie to take a true 
obfervation of the latitude of that place, and that they doe it with all 
convenient speed, and make returne thereof to the next seffion of this 
Court." 

The commissioners selected Jonathan luce and John Sherman as sur- 
veyors, located this rock at the " head of the Merrimack." and estab- 
lished the Massachusetts line three miles north of it, and running 
easterly from here it came out on the sea-coast at what is known as 
"Upper Clapboard Island" in Casco Bay, near Portland, Maine, to 
which two shipmasters were sent in L653 to establish that point. The 
commissioners, witli their surveyors, boats' crews and Indian guides, 
came up the Merrimack and Winnipesaukee rivers in .July ; truly a sum- 



50 

mer excursion ! When the work was done, the surveyors made their 
report to the commissioners in the following form : — 

The anfwer of John Sherman, sergt. at Watertown, and Jonathan 
Ince, student at Harvard College, Cambridge, to Captain Simon Wil- 
lard and Captain Edward Johnf on, Commif f ioners of the General Court, 
held at Bofton, May 27, 1652, concerning the Latitude of the northern- 
moft pt. of Merrimack River — 

Whereas wee John Sherman and Jonathan Ince were procured by the 
aforefaid Commif f ioners to take the latitude of the place above named, 
Our Anfwer is, that at Aqueclohcan, the name of the head of Merrimack, 
where it iffucs out of the Winnapuffeakit, upon the firft of Auguft, 
one thoufand six hundred and fifty two, wee obferved and by obferva- 
tion found that the Latitude of the place was forty three degrees, forty 
minutes, and twelve seconds, befides thofe minutes which are to be 
allowed for the three miles more North wch. run into the Lake. In wit- 
nefs whereof, we have subfcribed our names this nineteenth of Octo- 
ber, one thoufand, six hundred and fifty two. 

John Sherman. 

Jonathan Ince. 

Jur. coram me. Joh. Endicott, Gubr.] 

It is undoubtedly the fact that when the " head of Merrimack" had 
been located at this rock, about 80 rods south of the present Boston 
& Lowell wharf, and the above observations taken, the inscription 
was cut in the rock ; the E I standing for Edward Johnson, the S W 
for Simon Willarcl, the W P for Worshipful, the IOHN for John, the 
ENDICVT for Endicut, the GOV. for Governor. 

Edward Johnson Simon Willard 

Worshipful John Endicot 

Governor. 

John Endicott was the well-known colonial governor of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony for many years. The WP presumably stands for 
Worshipful, a title of respect given to the governors of that day. But 
it has been suggested that it may mean William Parks, of Roxbury, a 
deacon, known to have been a great friend of Johnson's and a member 
of the General Court for more than twenty years. But the weight of 
evidence is for the title of respect for the Governor. The commis- 
sioners were among the most honorable men of the Massachusetts 
Colony. Capt. Edward Johnson was one of the founders of the town 
and First Church of Woburn, for twenty-eight years a Representative 
in the General Court and once Speaker of the House. He was also the 
author of that rare and celebrated book, "The Wonder-Working Prov- 
idence Of Zion's Saviour In New England," which is to-day an authority 



for matters of early Massachusetts history. Capt. Syraond, or Simon, 
Willard, of Concord, Mass., was a member of the General Court many 
years, and ancestor of Samuel Willard, vice-president of Harvard 
College 1701-7, and of Joseph Willard, its president, 1781-1801. John 
Sherman, one of the surveyors, was then a sergeant and afterwards a 
captain, and member of the General Court from Watcrtown, and ances- 
tor of the celebrated Roger Sherman, U. S. Senator from Connecticut. 

Of Jonathan Ince nothing is known except that he was a resident 
graduate at Harvard College at that time. A short time ago it was 
found that the frost was cracking the rock, and the State of New Hamp- 
shire appointed commissioners to take measures for its preservation. 
They have raised it from its bed in the gravel and bolted its parts to- 
gether, thus hoping to keep intact this interesting memorial of the 
early times. 

The summer resort which is now growing so fast at The Weirs 
has the advantage of location where the through line of the Boston & 
Lowell Railroad touches the lake, from which point the large and well- 
known steamer "Lady of the Lake" regularly plies to all other im- 
portant points about it. Here also many smaller steamboats and 
launches are found, which run regularly to certain points, or can be 
chartered for special service. There are three hotels : the Hotel Weirs, 
near the railroad station at the foot of the hill; the Lakeside House, 
in the grove of the Camp Meeting Grounds just north of the station, 
between the railroad and the lake ; and the Winnecoette House, on the 
crown of the great hill back of the village, to which carriages run after 
the arrival of each train. Besides these, there are numerous boarding- 
houses. The New Hampshire Veteran Association have located here in 
the noble white pine grove west of the railroad, where various regi- 
mental associations have built headquarters, and where annually, in 
August, the old soldiers have a large and enjoyable reunion. The 
Weirs is the principal point of summer life and activity on the lake, 
and is steadily growing. In the summer season trains leave there for 
Boston at about four o'clock A.M., and others at about six and eight 
o'clock A.M. ; by the earliest train one may have six and one-half hours, 
or by the second train five hours, in Boston, leaving on return at three 
o'clock and reaching The Weirs at the seasonable hour of seven 
P.M. ; or leaving Boston at seven P.M. reach The Weirs at eleven 
P.M. Thus one may leave this delightful resort after an early break- 
fast, spend the important business hours in Boston and be back to the 
lake before dark and in time for evening tea; as travel increases, the 
transit will be made quicker. 

The Hotel Weirs at this place, within a few rods of the railroad sta- 
tion, is an excellently kept house, and always full, Landlord Story being 
a veteran in the business ; he also manages the popular restaurant on 
the steamboat landing. The Winnecoette House, pleasantly situated 
on the hill, has more permanent boarders and fewer transient guests. 



52 

The Lakeside House, within the Camp Meeting grove and near the 
depot and wharf, contains the post-office. 

Wolfboro' has many attractions which will repay an excursion to it 
by the " Lady of the Lake," or by privately chartered launch. 

Centre Harbor, at the north-west end of the lake, is an old settlement, 
and has long been a favorite summer resort. There are two good 
hotels, the Senter House and the Moulton House, both named for old 
settlers of the region; besides these, there are numerous boarding- 
houses. This is the point of departure for the ascent of Eed Hill. In 
the village, south of the steamboat landing, is the elegant summer resi- 
dence of Mrs. Sutton, of Salem, Mass., whose large barns, fine herds 
and very green fields indicate the high state of cultivation to which the 
lands have been brought. 

From this village stages run to Moultonboro', Sandwich, Centre 
Sandwich, North Sandwich, South Tamworth and Ossipee Mountain 
Park. The latter is the great, elevated recess in the south-west side of 
the Ossipee Range, at the foot of the Shaw peak, visible from Weirs, 
Centre Harbor, and nearly every part of the lake, and is the natural 
park of the Ossipee Mountains. It contains about 5,000 acres, and is 
diversified with mountain-tops, dells, crags, brooks, waterfalls, forests, 
fields and pastures, and commands views of the lake, its arms and 
islands, the country and the mountain rim around it, of surpassing 
grandeur. Through the park proper (an estate of about 500 acres 
which has received the attention of its owner) flows the Weelahka, one 
of the most beautiful of all New Hampshire streams. This daughter 
of the glen has received tribute from Whittier, Lucy Larcom, Miss 
Jerome, and others who have lingered in its charms. The stream falls 
two hundred and fifty feet in about a mile, through a succession 
of rocks, groves, pools and cascades. The "Falls of Song" have a 
descent of fifty feet into a picturesque, wooded ravine. The whole of 
this glen of the Weelahka is an enchantment. Nor is it wanting in 
legendary interest. Some thousands of persons, from places five to 
fifty miles distant, visit it yearly. About five miles of paths have beer, 
made, leading to the more interesting points, such as The Steps, The 
Crags, Crow's Nest, The Falls, The Deserted Village, Playground of 
the Lost Children, Echo Vale, etc. 

The hall for the entertainment of sojourners stands in a broad, breezy 
lawn, 800 feet above the lake and nearly 1,300 feet above the sea. It 
is often pointed out from the boats, especially when it is flashing wel- 
comes or adieus to coming or departing guests. Its appointments are 
of the first class. The establishment includes a farm and a dairy. 
The place is characterized by tranquility and restf ulness. There is no 
village, factory, or other sign of activity for miles around. Its airs 
and its waters are sweet, fresh, and pure, — born here, of the mountain. 
For healthfulness, it stands unexcelled. The lawns, the fields, the 
groves, the glens, and the waters of the lake two miles away, invite to all 



53 

out-door recreations. The summit, 1,700 feet above the Hall, is reached 
by an easy path through a really grand old forest. The view from the 
lookout takes in the ocean and the Rangeley lakes on the north and 

east, the White Mountains on the north and west, and the vast expanse 
as far as Wachusett on the south. 

The Park is at present readied most conveniently via Centre Har- 
bor, whence a stage on arrival of the noon boats from The Weirs, con- 
necting with the 8.30 A.M. train from Boston; but wharves have been 
built at Melvin Village and Moultonboro' Corner to accommodate 
steamers from The Weirs, and it is expected that this route will soon 
be opened for passengers to the Park and to boarding-places in Melvin 
Village, Moultonboro' and Sandwich, giving them a longer boat-ride 
and new views of the lake, and setting them down at points nearer des- 
tination. Melvin Bay, with the mass of Mt. Shaw rising 3,000 feet 
directly from its shore, presents a scene of rare beauty and sublimity. 
This view is pronounced the finest on the lake. 

" Over lowlands forest-grown, 
Over waters island-strewn, 
Over 6ilver-sanded beach, 
Leaf-locked bay and misty reach, 
Melvin stream and burial-heap 
Watch and ward the mountains keep." 

It reminds the European traveller of Ben Venue and Loch Katrine, 
though the height is about that of Ben Lomond. 

The Hall is less a hotel than a resort for families. Preference is 
given to guests intending to stay a week or more. It is well to secure 
rooms in advance. For immediate response, applications should always 
be addressed to B. F. Shaw, Lowell, Mass. The ticket agents of the 
Boston & Lowell Railroad and its connections will give best route on 
application for tickets. 

The Boston & Lowell White Mountains excursion tickets permit break- 
ing journey at The Weirs for Ossipee Mountain Park, Centre Harbor, 
Wolfboro', Sandwich, Moultonboro' and Tamworth. The direct steamer 
route from The Weirs to Melvin A^illage and Moultonboro' Corner lies 
across the lake easterly, where the islands are thickest, and between 
Long Island on one side and Sandy and Little Bear Islands on the 
other into the " Back Side " or Moultonboro' Bay, up the broad expanse 
of which one sails towards where 

" Dark Ossipee stands in laurels ever green, 
A lordly suitor, monarch of the scene." 

On a summer's day the sleepy stillness of this part of the lake has a 
peculiar charm for the weary and worn who are seeking rest, and the 
overlooking mountain, with its dark forests, has a fascination which 
will be appreciated when seen from these waters. 



54 

From Centre Harbor westward there is a good road to Shepherd Hill, 
crowned by the Asquam House, about seven miles distant. This is a 
quiet place, the hotel well managed and patronized by the cultivated 
and refined; among them, frequently, a well-knoAvn bishop of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. It is from this point that the beautiful 
views of the Squam lakes and surrounding mountains are enjoyed in 
their perfection. 



CHAPTKU 



X. 



SUMMER LIFE. 

I know how fair your morns can break, 
In rosy light on isle and lake ; 
How over wooded slopes can run 
The noonday play of cloud and sun." 




F one wishes the comfort of a good 
hotel he can find it at The Weirs, in 
more than one well-kept house ; or at 
Ossipcc Mountain Park, a most fas- 
cinating place; or Centre Harbor, 
with its great quietness; or the 
Asquam House, on the cool and 
airy summit of Shepherd Hill, over- 
looking the three Squam lakes and surrounding mountains. Beside 
these, there are smaller but comfortable hotels and boarding-houses at 
most of the places already named, and at Wolfboro' and Melvin Vil- 
lage, Moultonboro' Corner and Meredith Village, with innumerable 
farm-houses open to the summer boarder on every side of the lake. 
Life at The Weirs, at the Lakeside House, or the Hotel Weirs, is at- 
tractive to those who love stir and movement, by the incoming and 
departing trains and boats, which create busy movement through most 
of the hours from early morning to evening ; while life at the Winne- 
coette House, on the summit of The Weirs hill, or at the hotels of the 
other resorts, is one of restfulness, with feasting on natural scenery 
and the good viands, the sweet mountain air giving wonderful appe- 
tites for the latter. 

But Lake Winnipesaukee has other summer life which is yearly 
increasing. Cottages are springing up on every sandy shore, jutting 
point and attractive island. The Methodist camp-meeting ground at 
The Weirs has drawn many people thither, where the cottages arc 
clustered thickly together and near the water, hotel, depot and post- 
office. But at more retired spots there arc single cottages, or two or 
three together. No place in the country is better adapted for such 
cottage locations than the long points and many charming islands of 
this inland sea. Spindle Point, the east and west points of Stone Dam 
Island, One Tree Island Point, Aunt Dolly's Point, the points on the 
right going out from The Weirs on either side of Pendleton's Beach, 
the west coves of Timber and Mark Islands, "The Gulf" shore of 



56 



Bear Island, Coe's and Graves' Points on the right going into Centre 
Harbor, with such islands as Jolly, the Two Camp, Smith's or Round, 
Steamboat, Six Mile or Three Mile, are superior for cottages. The ad- 
vantage of the larger, such as Timber, Camp, Jolly, Round or Smith's 
and Bear islands, is, that several cottages may be built on them, sup- 
plying company, and yet need not be so near as to obtrude on one 
another's privacy; while the advantage of the smaller, such as Eagle, 
at the entrance of The Weirs harbor, Aunt Dolly's, either of the 
Three Mile islands, is, that one may have the whole to himself; there 
are many others of proper size for that purpose, and very desirable if 
one has a good sail-boat or steam-launch of his own. 




A BIT OP SHORE — SQUAM LAKE. 



The small islands above named are on the course of the steamers „ 
by which one may have regular communication wiVn the outside world. 
The points are usually ledge, high and smooth enough for excellent cot- 
tage sites, with sufficient trees for shade ; the points of Stone Dam and 
the Three Mile islands are particularly attractive. On the north-west 
end of the larger Three Mile Island is a small cove with sandy beach, and 
a point of ledge on either side, where the regular steamers pass within 
a few rods several times daity ; and one can hardly conceive of a better 
spot for a summer cottage. Bear Island, being so large, having so 
many points and beaches, several groves of large growth, with a wharf 
where the largest steamers can touch, and near which the "Lady of 



the Lake" passes several times a day, is sure to become a favorite 
place for both boarding-houses and cottages ; there might be a multi- 
tude of the latter, and not intrude on each other. 

Most of the cottages thus far built are plain and cheap; and Lumber 
is so near at hand and plenty that a nice house can be buill here for 
about the cost of the raw material on the sea-shore. Quite a number 
of the cottages on the islands were built for the double purpose of both 
a winter and summer camp. With some there are barns to shelter the 
horse when the winter fishing-party drives thither over the ice; these 
are generally on the islands in the middle of the lake, near the besl 
fishing-grounds. 

In past days there have been many camping-parties at these points 
and islands; and in the months of July and August one may see many 
white tents under the green trees; in frequent instances there is a 
spring near by, and good fishing oft' the rocks or a few rods from the 
shore. 

Another unique feature of summer life on this lake is the use of 
house-boats. Capt. B. F. Brown, of the River Queen, cut wood from 
so many islands that he felt the need of a movable camp, and conceived 
the notion of a comfortable cottage on a large scow. This could be 
towed to any island, drawn up on the beach, and allowed to freeze in; 
and in the summer months it could be rented for fishing, and in the 
autumn for shooting-parties. The house on the scow is about twenty- 
four feet long and twelve wide, giving two rooms twelve feet square ; 
one is a well-appointed kitchen, with cupboards, stove and sink, the 
other sitting and bed-room. At a little distance the house looks like a 
photographer's, or a railway baggage, car on a scow; the windows on 
the side, the doors at the ends, with the roof projecting, give it such 
resemblance ; a rail of iron steam-pipe along the edge of the boat 
allows a protected walk entirely around the house. When one first 
sees this queer craft floating on the lake, looking so comfortable and 
secure, he will be sure to recall Tom Hutter's " muskrat castle " and 
"ark" on Otsego Lake, as described in Cooper's "Deerslayer" of 
the Leather-Stocking Tales, and the fascinating idea of occupying it 
will almost surely take possession of his mind, the realization of which 
will generally equal the anticipation. 

During the summer of 1885 a truly elegant house-boat of this descrip- 
tion, with every comfort and convenience, was built at Laconia by 
one of the car-builders, for use on Lake Winnisquam, where it may 
be rented. Capt. Brown will have his craft of this kind ready for 
summer visitors the present season, and with his steam-launch will 
tow parties to any point on the lake or among the islands that 
they may choose. Where there are so many protected coves, such 
a house-boat is as safe as a cottage on land, and has the advantage <>f 
possible easy change of location. This method of spending a lew 
weeks has charms for many people, and is yearly coming into greater 



58 

favor. Mr. Solomon Lovejoy, of Meredith Village, owner of the north 
end of Bear Island, with the remaining farm-house, proposes to soon 
have one or more such cottage-boats ready for the public. He also 
has a craft with steam-power with which he can locate and move a 
party occupying one of them. 

There are very few large sailing craft on the lake, as the wind cannot 
be depended upon ; yet there is a considerable number of small sail- 
boats •; but the favorite transport is the steam-launch, of which there are 
many, and all busy with regular trips among the islands or with special 
parties, in the summer months ; these are safe, and not dependent on 
wind or current. One of the best of these is the " Grade." The large 
steamboats, which ply regularly in connection with the railroad trains, 
arc graceful side-wheel craft; the launches are propellers, and sail 
very fast, considering their size. In the summer season their puffing 
and shrill whistles are heard at all hours, and everywhere on the lake; 
and their black smoke from the wood which they burn is often seen 
rising over the wooded islands when they are hidden from view. 

Besides Capt. Brown's "muskrat castle," this lake has two other 
floating curiosities. One is a large scow with an engine and propeller. 
It is the contrivance of Mr. Solomon Lovejoy, who proves the appropri- 
ateness of his name by his " witty inventions." The engine is of his 
own construction, having three cylinders, thus preventing what aquatic 
engineers call " catching on the centre," and a toggle in the propeller- 
shaft by which the craft may be steered when the shaft is revolving. 
It presents a queer sight when proceeding through the Avater, with the 
small boiler, a little larger than a barrel, standing up in the wide open 
boat, in which there is room enough for cattle or a considerable quan- 
tity of freight. The other floating curiosity is the horse-boat, of 
which there are several on the lake ; some arranged for two horses and 
others for one ; formerly these craft were more numerous than now ; 
steam-power has superseded them. They have side paddle-wheels, 
and are propelled by the horses in a tread-mill. The artist succeeded 
in getting a sketch of one of the best on the lake. 

Boating constitutes a large part of the summer life, and a good row- 
boat, light and safe, is required, plenty of which may be rented at 
reasonable rates. Canoes are somewhat used, but arc not very plenty, 
although no waters in the world are more appropriate for them, as the 
views among the islands and of the distant mountains can be better 
seen and enjoyed while paddling than while rowing. Excursions 
among the islands, with fishing and shore dinners, are common enjoy- 
ments. 

The islands and shores are noted for their berries, more being found 
on the former, because they are less accessible. In July the low blueber- 
ries ripen, and in August the huckleberries and high-bush blueberries, 
" The Beavers " and " The Forties " being the great localities for the 
latter, not being so frequently visited. Aunt Dolly's Point is covered 



59 

with luxuriant huckleberry bushes. Few places in the country can equal 
these islands for the quantity and quality of these berries. 

About the lake many white pond-lilies are found ; a remarkable place 
for them is Sanborn Meadow Cove, beyond Black Cat Island, at the 
north end of the, lake, not far from Centre Harbor. There acres of 
the surface are covered with them at the proper season ; a boat-load 
could be secured in an hour. 

In the Spring and Autumn many wild ducks are found on the lake ; 
and here 

"The shy loon sounds his trumpet note," 

upon the approach of a boat ; sinking all of himself but his long neck 
and head, he watches, and at the flash of a rifle dives before the ball 
reaches him ; and frequently by the time the echo of the report dies 
away he rises to the surface forty rods off in another direction. At the 
moment of his rise is about the only time one can be shot. They are 
very plenty about Three Mile and Black Cat islands, and the writer's 
party had rare sport chasing them with the steam-launch and a rifle, 
but none were captured. Their feathers are so thick and hard that 
common shot will not penetrate them, even at short range. 

In days past eagles have also been plentiful ; and now one old 
patriarch makes his frequent perch on a large dead tree on the high 
north end of Pine Island. The abundance of flsh tempt them to come, 
but wicked gunners have shot many. Now, however, public opinion 
is so strong against their slaughter that one would hardly care to have 
it known that he had killed one of these lords of the air. 

Bathing in the lake is greatly enjoyed wherever there is a sandy 
beach and shoal water, winch becomes warm in the sun. There are 
many sandy shoals of large extent where one may wade for a long dis- 
tance. Over one of these our launch, the "River Queen," 

" Plowed her crooked furrow; 
And her rippling and her lurches 
Scared the wriggling eels and perches;" 

and here it was that 

" Every sober clam below her, 

Every sage and grave pearl-grower, 
Shut his rusty valves the tighter." 

This was at Black Island, in the Back Side, or Moultonboro' Bay, 
near Melvin Village ; the shore was almost literally black with huckle- 
berries, and projecting from the east side there was found a vast shoal 
of fine soft sand, the home of large quantities of fresh-water clams, 
and a superior bathing-place. 

Fishing properly constitutes a large part of the summer life, and is 
faithfully practiced. The best trout ledges are between • ' The Forties " 
and Camp islands. The best black bass grounds are in The Weirs 



GO 

harbor, in Lake Waukewan and about the Three Mile islands. It is a 
common sight to see one or two persons sit patiently hanging their 
hands over the side of a small boat. When the steamer passes, if they 
have been successful, one may be sure they will hold up their string 
for admiring gaze. If not so fortunate, they will probably make a 
great show of ' ' hauling in," as though too busy to stop for compliments. 
The party on the " River Queen " came up with a boat where the fishers 
were so enamored of the sport as to sit patiently close together under 
an umbrella in the rain. On passing, it was found to be a lady and 
gentleman ! 

These are some of the opportunities and employments which are 
offered for summer life on and about the lake. Others are those which 
are naturally found at hotels and well-appointed summer resorts. 

In addition to these, in the latter part of August there is annually a 
great reunion of war veterans at their grove at The Weirs, where 
speeches, camp-fires and sham-fights recall the days of war for the 
younger generation. Earlier in the month there is a Methodist camp- 
meeting in their grove on the lake-side, where some of their best 
preachers may be heard. 

The summer sunsets, as seen from the high surrounding hills, 
especially Ossipee Mountain Park, Red Hill and the Winnecoette sum- 
mit, are something to remember for a lifetime, and have never failed 
to inspire the poets. The Bard of Amesbury has thus described one 
he saw, the like of which is not rare in the summer season : — 

" Again I see the sun decline 
Along the ridged horizon line; 
Touching the hill-tops, as a nun 
Her headed rosary, sinks the sun. 
One lake lies golden, which shall soon 
Be silver in the rising moon ; 
And one the crimson of the skies 
And the mountain purple multiplies." 

One other feature of this life, pleasing or not, "as you like it," is 
the occasional fog. TJicse are not common, and when experienced are 
usually denser at the north end and over the upper part of the ' ' Back 
Side," wmich being narrow and having less wind, under the walls of 
Ossipee, holds the vapor longer. Occasionally there will be a wonder- 
ful fog effect, as once in the summer of 1885, when our party was 
passing through the channel off Aunt Dolly's Point going north, when 
a bank of vapor hung over the upper end of the lake and the top of 
Red Hill was seen, with Sandwich Dome rising behind it, and a wall of 
fog on either side of them, both appearing to rise out of the clouds. 
It was a beautiful sight, but in a moment was past, and soon another 
rift would show some other equally charming effect. Soon after the 
wind began to stir, the whole bank swayed, lifted, and in a few minutes 
it was " blotted out as a thick cloud," and the skies were clear. 



CHAPTER X. 



WINTER SI' ours 



He comes,— he comes,— the Frost Spirit comes! aud the quiet lake Khali feel 
The torpid touch of his glazing breath, and ring to the skater's heel." 



HE winter fishing is good on all these lakes. 
On several of the islands of Winni- 



with special reference to this sport. 
Such a one on Birch Island, near the 
centre of the lake, has a good barn 
by its side large enough to shelter 
a horse. Parties drive over the ice, 
with supplies for a stay of several 
days ; making the cottage their 
headquarters, they find the great 
trout ledges nearly surrounding 
"The Forties," where large quan- 
tities of fish are secured, while the 
long evenings pass merrily in the 
comfortable cottages, 



" And the logs burning bright 
Keep them warm all the uight;" 

or a moonlight sleigh-ride is enjoyed on the icy fields stretching away 
for miles in cither direction. 

But on Lake Winnisquam the art of winter fishing has been reduced 
to an exact science. These waters are noted for their fine trout; and 
being so accessible from Laconia and Lake Village, as well as bj r 
rail from the cities below, are much sought by the disciples of 
old Izaak Walton. But he would laugh at a sight of the present 
contrivances, and chuckle when he came to their comfortable enjoy- 
ment. Beside all the most approved arrangements for holding the 
line in the holes and to give warning when the fish bite, there arc 
the following: small huts are built on a light frame which can be 
moved on runners, unloaded and loaded therefrom by a couple of 
men; these are transported to the fishing-grounds, or icy-sheets over 
the grounds, and adjusted over one or two good holes; small sheet- 
iron stoves, a pipe sticking through the roof, with a stool or two, and 




ice-fishing is reduced to a comfort. Here one may draw out, dres 
and fry a fish in very short order ; or go forth to his round of lines 
and soon be back to the shelter from the wind and a good fire. Thes 
huts vary in size, finish and interior conveniences ; many are onl; 
four by six feet square and five or six feet high ; others every wa; 
larger; some even eight feet square. The traveller on the Whit 
Mountains Division of the Boston & Lowell Eailroad between Eas 
Tilton and Laconia may frequently see many of these huts dottinj 
the icy surface of Winnisquam in the winter months. From thenc 
the column of smoke ascends, an evidence of the comfort that reign 
within. 

On February 1G, 1885, there was taken from a hole in one of thes 
fishing huts a lake-trout weighing over eleven pounds, another weighing 
seven pounds and one ounce, and several of four and five pound 
weight. This string of fish the writer saw at the Eagle House i 
few hours afterwards. 

The best of these huts can be rented at a dollar a clay ; and for fiv 
dollars, a party can secure the services of an old fisherman for a week 
He will locate the huts over good fishing-grounds, furnish lines an< 
fixtures, cook and generally assist. Mr. Leavitt, the Boston & Lowel 
station agent at Laconia, will answer inquiries and supply informatioi 
regarding details, if any party wishes to try the sport. 

When the water of these lakes freezes smoothly, the ice supplies i 
magnificent surface to "ring to the skater's heel," and for horse 
trotting. At such seasons the dwellers on opposite sides of the lake; 
and bays exchange visits as at no other season ; and a great quantity 
of wood is sledded across the surface, and large numbers of log; 
drawn on to it to be bound together, and, when the ice is gone, raftec 
to other points. 

The winter scenery is also fine ; particularly a view of the Ossipeei 
and Red Hill, with the Sandwich range beyond, as seen from Capt 
Wadleigh's comfortable house on the high hill east of The Weir.' 
station, 
is a marvel of beauty. 

"And beauty seen is never lost, 
God's colors are all fast." 



CHAPTER XI. 
HOW TO GET THERE. 

'I too, a palmer take, as they 
With staff and scallop-6hell my way, 
To feel, from burdening cares and ills, 
The strong uplifting of the hills. 
The years are many since, at first, 
For dreamed of wonders all athirst, 
I saw on Winnipesaukee fall 
The shadow of the mountain wall." 



!ROM the accompanying map of the 
Boston & Lowell system of trans- 
portation lines it will be seen that 
this lovely lake-region possesses 
exceptional ease of access, lying 
as it does upon the great route of 
travel from Boston to the White 
Mountains, as well as upon one of 
the favorite through lines between 
Boston and Montreal. 

The tourist from the south or 
west may enter the "Merrimack 
Valley Route" at Nashua or Low- 
ell ; but it w r ere far better to make 
Boston the starting-point, and thus 
gain a gradual introduction to the 
many picturesque scenes along the 
way. Following up the valley of 
the Meriimack River through the 
thriving manufacturing cities of 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, past whose busy mill-wheels the 




Merrimack rolls down its Hood, 



the line passes through many wide and fertile vales that were for- 
merly covered with lakes similar to those now connected with the 
Winnipesaukee group ; before the current wore down the resisting 
ledges at Pawtucket Falls, now Lowell, at Amoskcag Falls, now 
Manchester, and at Hooksett Falls, there were probably such lakes or 
bays at those places. The broad sweeping curves of the river, along 



the bank of which the railroad is located, give many beautiful car- 
window views. 

Tor a more full and complete description of the way traversed, the 
attention of the reader is called to " Summer Saunterings by the 
B. & L.," an interesting book published by the Passenger Department 
of the Boston & Lowell Railroad. 

Edna Dean Proctor thus beautifully describes the Merrimack : — 

"And the river of rivers, Merrimack, 
Whose current never shall faint nor lack 
AVhile the lakes and the crystal springs remain, 
Welcome the myriad hrooks and rills 
Winding through meadows, leaping from hills 
To hrim its banks for the waiting wheels 
That thrill and fly to its dash and roar 
Till the rocks are passed, and the sea-fog steals 
Over its tide by Newbury's shore ! 
For the river of rivers is Merrimack, 
Whether it foams with the mountain rain, 
Or toils in the mill-race, deep and black, 
Or conqueror, rolls to the ocean plain! " 

From Canada and the St. Lawrence River, Montreal should be made 
the point of departure. Through express trains, with line parlor and 
sleeping cars, leave the Bonaventure street station morning and 
evening, landing the traveller at The Weirs station in about eight 
hours. 

No one should leave the White Mountains region without seeing 
these lakes; however hurried his trip, he should stop oft' at The 
Weirs, — this privilege being given on all excursion and unlimited 
tickets of the Boston & Lowell Railroad,— and take a sail around the 
lake, the fare for which is only fifty cents ; and if he makes the noon 
trip on the "Lady of the Lake" on a fair summer day, he will sec the 
truthfulness of Whittier's description of these waters and their sights 
at this hour : — 

" White clouds, whose shadows haunt the deep, 
Light mists, whose soft embraces keep 
The sunshine en the hills asleep. 

O isles of calm!— O dark, still wood! 
And stiller skies that ever brood 
Your rest with deeper quietude ! 

O shapes and hues, dim beckoning, through 
Yon mountain gaps, my longing view 
Beyond the purj^Ie and the blue, 

To stiller sea and greener land, 

And softer lights and airs more bland, 

And skies, — the hollow of God's hand!" 

The distance from Boston to The Weirs is only 109 miles, and 



65 

during the pleasure season five trains are run in each direction daily, 
except Sundays, with fine parlor cars. The running time is about 
three and one-half hours, and one bent on "A Day's Pleasure" can 
leave Boston at 8.30 a.m., have nearly live hours on the lake and reach 
home the same day at 8.35 p.m. 

Tickets limited to continuous passage in both directions arc sold 
during the summer season, from Boston, Lowell, Salem, or Lawrence 
to The Weirs, Wolfboro' or Centre Harbor and return at $4.00 each, 
and for $5.00 tickets arc sold permitting stop-over at pleasure at 
places of interest along the route. On the following pages detailed 
time-tables are given. 



(56 



CONDENSED TIME SCHEDULE 

IN EFFECT JUNE 28 TO OCT. 2, 1886. 



Boston to Winnipesaukee, White Mountains, Etc. 



STATIONS. 



Lv. Boston B. & L. R.R. 

" Salem " " 

" Lawrence " " 

" Lowell " " 

" Nashua Junction Concord R.R. 

Ar. Concord " 

Lv. Concord B. & L. R.R 

" Tilton " " 

" Laconia " " 

" Lake Village " " 

Ar. WEIRS " 

" CENTRE HARBOR Steamer 

" WOLFBOKO' 

" Plymouth B. & L. R.R. 

" No. "Woodstock " " 

" Profile House Stage 

" Warren B. & L. R.R. 

" Woodsville " •' 

" St. Johnsbury Pass. R.R. 

" Newport " " 

" Montreal S. E. Ry 

" Lisbon B. & L. R.R. 

" Littleton " " 

" Jefferson "W. & J. R.R. 

" Lancaster B. & L. R.R. 

" Bethlehem Junction .. . " " 

" Maplewood P. & F. N. Ry 

" Bethlehem " " 

" Profile House " " 

" Twin Mountain House. .B. &L. R.R. 

" Fabyan's " " 

" Crawford P. &, O. R.R. 

" Mt. "Washington Mt. "W. Ry 



No. 51 No. 53 No. 75 No.145 I No.1S9 I No.285 



6.55 
7.32 

7.49 
7.54 
8.03 



10.15 

8.38 

10.00 

12.45 

9.28 

10.15 

11.15 

1.O0 



w 



A.M. 

8.30 

7.50 

8.15 

9.20 

9.45 

10.50 

10.55 

11.27 

11.43 

11. 50 

12. OO 

12.50 

3.05 

12. 40 



W 



11. lO 
11.35 
12. 
12.35 
12. 04 
12.15 
12. 20 
2.18 
12.15 
12.25 



3.12 
4.40 
8.30 



A.M. 

9.30 

9.10 

9.30 

10.14 

10.40 

11. 40 

11.42 



w 



3.05 
1.05 
2.35 
4.50 



3.15 
3.37 

4.40 
4.4C 
4.04 
4.1G 
4.21 
4.40 
4.1C 
4.28 
5.00 
6.30 
P.M. 



P.M. 
l.OO 
12.45 
12. 50 
1.48 
2.13 
3.12 
3.17 
3.50 
4.08 
4.12 
4.23 
5.20 
7.00 
5.02 
6.10 
8.20 
5.50 
6.38 
7.23 
9.00 



P.M 
3.00 



3.15 
3.53 
4.20 
5.42 
5.50 
6.35 
6.55 
6.59 
7.09 



6.53 

7.1 

S.IO 

8.00 

7.37 

7.50 

7.55 

8.13 

7.48 

8.00 

8.20 



w 



P.M. 

7.00 

5.50 

6.40 

7.48 

8.20 

9.25 

9.30 

lO.ll 

10.30 

10.35 

10.46 



12.23 
1.20 
2.42 
4.15 
8.10 



P.M. P.M. A.M 



Through Parlor Cars Boston to "Weirs and Montreal on Train No. 53, Boston 
to "Weirs and Plymouth on Train No. 189, and Boston to "Weirs and Fabyan's on 
Trains No. 75 and No. 145. Through Sleeping Cars Boston to "Weirs and Mon- 
treal on Train No. 285. 



Steamer "Lady of the Lake" leaves Weirs for Centre Harbor at li 
and 4.25 P.M. ; for Wolfboro' 8.55 A.M., 1.50 and 4.35 P.M. 



67 



CONDENSED TIME SCHEDULE 

IN EFFECT JUNE 28 TO OCT. 2, 1886. 



White Mountains to Winnipesaukee and Boston. 





No. 56 


No. 94 


No. 162 


No. 270 


No. 233 


No. 318 


STATIONS. 


2 J* 


•3 


o 

o 
*4 


«5 
3 


n 
o 
pi 
M 


o 


Lv. Mt. "Washington Mt. W. Ry 


P.M. 


A.M. 


A.M. 


A.M. 


P.M. 
7.00 
8.20 
9.30 
9.40 
9.00 
9.20 
9.25 
9.55 
9.10 
9.00 
10.22 
10.45 


P.M. 


" Crawford P. & O. R.R. 

" Pabyan's B. & L. R.R. 


10.30 

10.40 

6.45 

7.05 

7.10 

10.51 






7.53 
8.05 
7.40 
8.00 
8.05 
8.17 
7.25 
7.15 
8.47 
9.18 


1.25 


" Twin Mountain House " " 






1.33 


" Profile House P. & F. N. R.R. 






11.25J 


" Bethlehem " " 






1-15m 


" Maplewood " " 






1.20 


" Bethlehem Junction. . .B. & L. R.R. 






1.42 










" Jefferson W. &. J. R.R. 


6.30 

11.13 

11.37 

7.45 

11. 40 

1.15,', 

2.05 

2.53 








" Littleton B. & L. R.R. 














2 24 








9.00£ 








7.00 

9.00 

10.35 

11.32 


12. M 
9.15 

11. io 
1.05 
1.40 
3.05 
5.20 

12.50 

10.20 
1.45 
1.54 
1.57 
2.15 
2.48 
2.50 
3.50 
4.12 
5.24 
5.20 
5.00 
P.M. 


1 °°m 








2.26£ 


" "Woodsville B. & L. R.R. 

" "Warren " " 




6.30 

7.19 


3.10 
3.54 

1 OO 


" No. "Woodstock B. & L. R.R. 

" Plymouth " " 

Ar. WEIRS " 

" WOLFDOEO' Steamer 


3.35 

4.13 


5.30 
6.02 


6.35 

8.15 

8.54 

10.15 

12. 50£ 

7.35 

6.00 

8.54 

9.10 

9.14 

9.33 

10.10 

10.20 

11.37 

12.17 

2.15 

1.15 
P.M. 


l.lO 
1.54 

1.54 
2.05 
2.09 
2.29 
3.10 
3.35 
5.00 
5.30 
6.32 
7.05 
6.25 
P.M. 


3.30 
4.40 
5.16 










Lv. CENTRE HARBOR 














3.10 


•« WEIRS B. &L. R.R. 


4.13 
4.23 
4.29 
4.46 
5.25 
5.55 
7.00 
7.35 
11.35 
8.50 


6.02 
6.15 
6.20 
6.42 
7.22 
7.30 
8.50 
9.18 
10.35 
12. M. 


5.16 
5.26 
5.30 
5.47 
6.25 
6.28 
7.29 
7.50 


" Laconia " " 


Ar. Concord " " 

Ar. Nashua Junction B. & L. R.R. 

" Lowell " " 

" Lawrence " " 








A.M. 


A.M. 


P.M. 



Through Parlor Cars Fabyan's to Weirs and Boston on Trains No. 238 and 
318; Plymouth and Weirs to Boston on Trains No. 94 and No. 162, and Mon- 
treal to Weirs and Boston on Train No. 318. 



Through Sleeping Car Montreal to "Weirs and Boston on Train No. 56. 



CHAPTER XII. 



I N T HE MARKET. 



; As pastures, wood-lots, mill-sites, -with the privileges, 
Rights, and appurtenances, which make up 
A Yankee Paradise." 




OR the information of the multitude, 
who, with the coming of the summer 
heats, arc turning their 

" languid eye 
Lake of the Hills ! where cool and sweet 
Thy sunset waters lie," 

we have been at considerable care to 
examine various sites in and about 
the lake, and compare their advantages for cottages, as indicated in 
previous chapters. We have also got the prices of many points and 
islands, which will indicate the value placed on most of them. This, 
however, is to be kept in mind : those who select and locate cottages 
first will have the larger field from which to choose ; and as the tide of 
summer travel increases and larger numbers make summer homes here, 
the prices will advance, and probably very fast, as they have at the 
Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence ; and Winnipesaukce possesses 
every advantage the Thousand Islands have, and the additional ones 
of surrounding mountains, and being much nearer Boston than the St. 
Lawrence is to New York. Any point or island near The Weirs has the 
advantage of nearness to stores, post-office, and frequent through trains. 
A half -acre point on Pitchwood Island, which is in The Weirs harbor, 
can be bought of Mr. Doe, who occupies the white farm-house on the 
hill back of The Weirs village, for $100. It is a choice location. 
Probably either of the south points on Stone Dam Island can be got at 
the same figure. Half of this island is owned by a Mr. Edgerly, at The 
Weirs. One Tree Island Point and Aunt Dolly's Islands, of which 
there are two, arc excellent locations, and can be had at reasonable 
rates. Just inside of Meredith Bay, a half mile from The Weirs, Capt. 
Wadleigh, of the steamer "Lady of the Lake," owns a fine ledge- 
point, with beach near by, a desirable location ; also Diamond Island, 
on the course to Wolfboro', and from which Mt. Washington can be 
seen; and also Jolly Island, of fifty-four acres, lying in the centre of 
the lake. On any of these he will sell lots, or the whole at fair prices. 




mary's arch — ossifee mountain park. 



G9 

After these spots near The Weirs, those most desirable are such as 
lie near the regular course of the " Lady of the Lake." As there is a 
wharf for her to touch at on the upper end of Bear Island, that is of 
special value. It is so large that a whole village may locate on it, and 
all have seclusion. Mr. Solomon Lovejoy, of Meredith Village, own.; 
the only farm-house now on it, and most of its north end. lie proposes 
erecting cottages on desirable spots to rent or sell. The views of the 
mountains from this place are very fine. The southern end is also 
desirable, and includes Aunt Dolly's Point; her history making the 
place interesting, and increases its value. It is part of a lot now 
called "The Boardman Pasture," and is owned by a Mrs. Brown, of 
Meredith Village. 

Near Bear Island landing, on the left when going north, is Pine 
Island; at its north-east end is a fine point with a jutting ledge and 
deep water. The large forest growth makes this a desirable spot. 

A little farther north, to the right on the steamer's course, are the 
Three Mile Islands. The second in size, with the islet by its side, be- 
ing the south-eastern part of the group, was sold last season. The 
larger, with the huge high ledge south of it, is owned by Capt. B. F. 
Brown, of Centre Harbor ; it contains seventeen acres, rises to a desir- 
able height, has a good second growth of growing w r ood, and can be 
bought for $200. At its north-west end there is a pretty sandy cove 
enclosed by two ledges. The advantage of these islands is their near- 
ness to Bear Island landing and the steamer course, that from Centre 
Harbor to The Weirs being on the west, and that to Wolfboro' on the 
east, and both very near. 

The larger of " The Beavers " is a desirable island, lying on the left 
of the steamer's course going to Centre Harbor, and the whole cluster 
can be bought for $300, the long, narrow channel between the larger 
and the smaller, and the pretty land-locked coves among them giving 
the group a peculiar fascination to a canoeist or boatman. Wallace 
Island, in this part of the lake, comprises an acre and a half, is owned 
by a Mrs. Leavitt, of Meredith, and is offered for sale at $100. 

Near Centre Harbor there are several points and islands which are 
very pretty and desirable for locations, not only because of good land, 
projecting ledges and sandy beaches, but also because near the last- 
named village, to which all the large steamers come several times daily. 
Here are stores, post-office and the starting-point of several stage lines. 
Coe Point, within two miles of this harbor, has a good growth of pine 
and birch, with an extra fine sandy beach and bold water on the Centre 
Harbor side, and is within a quarter of a mile of the course of the 
steamers. It is owned by I). W. Coe, of Centre Harbor, who will sell 
an acre of the point for $100. This is a superior spot, being on the 
mainland. Graves' Point, nearer still to "The Harbor," consists of 
1G0 acres, and has several good points and sandy coves. The whole is 
" in the market" for .$3,000. 



70 

Leaving Centre Karbor, on the steamer course to Wolfboro', we pass 
the Three Mile Islands, three miles out. The second in size, " Hawk's 
Nest," is on the right, rising from the water about eight feet, is very 
level, with a good second growth of a variety of trees, irregular con- 
tour, bold water on the cast, beaches and an islet on the west, about 
one and a half acres in extent ; particularly good black bass fishing- 
ground north of it, and it abounds with all varieties of blueberries and 
huckleberries. 

On the left of the course, six miles from " The Harbor," is the " Six 
Mile " group of one large and two smaller islands. The larger rises to 
a cone about thirty feet high, with large trees ; deep water on all sides 
except a sheltered, gravelly cove on the north-east. Capt. Brown, of 
Centre Harbor, and his brother, are the owners, and will sell on reason- 
able terms. For an isolated spot, for one who owns a good sail-boat 
or steam-launch, this will be a superior place, as the group has shel- 
tered waters. 

Next on the right is Birch Island, owned by George Bobie, of Lake 
Village, which has long been occupied by a good, plain cottage used for 
summer or winter visits ; near by is a small stable. There is a fine 
forest growth. The island is large, and will be sold for $500 without 
the buildings, or $850 with them. The cottage is of one and one-half 
stories, and furnished for occupancy. 

The two Steamboat Islands are next on the right, owned by Capt. 
B. F. Brown, of Centre Harbor. At low water they are connected by 
a bar, and one can wade from one to the other at any time ; they are 
smooth, with several beaches, covered with a good growth of wood. 
The two will be sold for $200. From the south-east point of the outer- 
most of the two, a rocky bar extends some distance under the surface 
of the lake, upon which the old steamer Belknap was wrecked, as here- 
tofore described. 

Back of these is large Jolly Island, containing fifty-four acres, ele- 
vated from the water, smooth, with shade trees, several coves and 
beaches, and is owned by Capt. John S. Wadleigh, of The Weirs, com- 
mander of the " Lady of the Lake," who will sell all or parts. It would 
be a superior place for a community of cottages, and the smaller 
steamers which cross the lake would call regularly, or on signal. 

The Camp Islands near by, owned by Capt. B. F. Brown and brother, 
are now occupied by cottages, but there is room for more. Their near- 
ness to the trout ledges is an advantage. The small steamers would 
also call here. 

Beyond these on the right and nearer The Weirs are the large islands, 
Bound, formerly called Smith's, Mark and Timber. Round Island is a 
very fine one, with a cleared top surface and a margin of large growth 
of trees around the edge. It has two fine beaches, domes up very 
prettily in the centre, and is owned by Mr. George Saunders, of Gil- 
ford. He also owns large Timber Island, near by, which will yet be a 



71 

prize for some person or party. It is large enough for a settlement, is 
high, and lias two fine coves on the west side. 

Mark Island, owned by Mr. George Kobic, of Lake Village, is the 
highest of any island in the lake, its summit being a huge cap of rock, 
on which there is a signal-pole. The view from this elevation is supe- 
rior to that from any other island. The upper part and some of the 
lower sides are cleared and grassy, while the lower portions arc covered 
with forest, much of it very large white pines. The handsomest cove 
of the whole lake is on the west side, and described in Chapter VI. In 
this nook, several years ago, a small steamer called the Dolly Button 
was burned, while her party were enjoying a nap under the trees on a 
hot day. 

On the right, and the last on that side in this part of the lake, are 
"The Forties," the most delightful of all the clusters, and owned by 
Mr. Henry Doanc, of Gilford. One of the islets is large enough for a 
cottage, and several of them could be easily connected by foot bridges. 
The bays, coves and narrow channels which abound here lend a 
peculiar charm to the place. Besides shrubbery and smaller trees, 
there are a number of tall, crooked, bare button-woods, the sprawling 
branches of which are high above all others, look blasted, and are the 
favorite perches of fish-haw r ks. The movement of a rod or two any- 
where about the group gives new vistas through which "The Broads" 
may be seen, other islands, the passing steamers or the noble mountains. 
In one or two places the view of the Ossipees through a long " gut," 
where the trees frame the picture, is very fine. The most noted 
"trout ledges" surround these islands, which are almost in the 
centre of the lake, and yield a view of all its interesting environs. 

These are some of the choice spots which are for sale in various 
parts of Winnipesaukee. Their comparative value depends on their 
proximity to The Weirs, or Centre Harbor, or to the course of the 
steamer "Lady of the Lake," or the smaller boats which ply among 
the islands, and connect with the Boston & Lowell Railroad. 

If one docs not wish to buy, he can get ground rent very cheaply, 
some good spots being leased ten years for $10.00, while good com- 
fortable cottages can be built at small cost; Mr. Robie's story and a 
half house, and accompanying stable, with furniture, on Birch Island, 
costing only $350. 

Whoever comes here once, sails on these limpid waters, takes the fish 
out of them, bathes in them, views the scenery from the islands, and 
feasts on the luscious berries which are so very plentiful on them, will 
be certainly filled with a desire to return another season; and as he 
departs, will And himself in accord with the poet, who gave his bene- 
diction thus : — 

"Lake of the Northland, keep thy dower 
Of beauty still, and where above 
Thy solemn mountains speak of power, 
Be thou the mirror of God's love." 



HOTELS AND BOARDING-HOUSES IN THE 
LAKE REGION. 



Name of House. 



Proprietors. 



Accom- 
modate. 



Price Price 

>er day, per week. 



ASHLAND, N.H. 

Squam Lake House I C. H. Daniels.. 

Chestnut Hills House | Alden Bowles. 

CENTRE HARBOR, N.H 

Senter House 

Moulton House 

Sunset House, Pine Hill 

Lake House 

Locust Cottage 

Brown Cottage 

Lakeside Cottage 

Willow Cottage 

Bean Farm 

Red Hill Cottage 

Lake View House 

Boarding Ilouse 



J. L. Huntress & Son . . . 

S. F. Emery 

J. K.Kelsea 

Mrs. Almon Benson 

B.F. Kelsea 

B. F. Wentworth 

Mrs. A. M. Graves 

Siephen Wentworth 

Mrs. A. M. Bean & Sou. 

F. F. Green 

R. D. Green 

W. A. Page 

C. H. Weeks 



GILMANTON, N.H., 10 miles from Tilton hy stage. 



Springside House. 
Oakland House... 
Prospect House. . 
Boarding House.. 



R. II. Jones 

.I.H.Drew 

J. K. Hancock.. . . 
Betsey W. Moody 

John C. Baker 

II. J. Varney 

L. II. Mudgett 

Mrs. E. Holbrook. 

Orrin Folsom 

Albert Wight 



HOLDERNESS, N.H., 4 

Asquam Ilouse 

Asquam Cottage 

Camp Chocorua 

("for boys only") 

Squam Mt. House* 

Lake Shore Cottage 

Lake Farm House 

Boarding House 

LACONIA, N.H. 

Laconia House 

Willard Hotel and Cottage.. 

Eagle Hotel 

Vue de l'eau 

Highland House 

Bay View House 

Elmwood House 

Elm Farm 

Lake Cottage 

Poiut Pleasant 

Mountain View House 

Maple wood Farm 

Davis Ilouse 

Boarding Ilouse 



miles from Ashland. 

Leon II. Cilley 

J. II. Morse 

E. B. Balch 

I. H. Smith 

G. W. Mooney 

C. L. True 

H. H. Piper 



F. M. Beckford 

M. H.Fernald & Co.... 

Buchanan & Willis 

Mrs.C.C. Weeks 

H. H. Thompson 

S. L. Taylor 

L. E. Temple 

Prescott Ranlett 

C. O. Johnson 

L. A. Ladd 

Orville M. Smith 

M. W. Bennett 

N. S. Davis 

II. Q. Dalton 

Dr. Folsom (Belmont). 
II. P. Ladd 



LAKE VILLAGE, N.H. 

Mount Belknap House | A.^.IFJGffl^Qj. . 

Lot-19 



100 

75 



$1.00 



150 


$3.00 


75 


2.00 


40 


1.00 


25 


1.00 


25 




18 




15 




25 


1.00 


12 




10 




15 




25 




10 





15 




8 




40 


$1.50 


30 




8 




]5 




6 




6 




8 




15 





$3.00 


$12tol7£ 
7.00 


'"i.'oo" 

1.00 
1.00 


6.00 
7.00 
Gto9 
7.00 



$1.50 
2.50 ' 

"i.oo" 


$7 to 10 

" 8 to 12* 

7.00 
7 to 10 

7.00 

" 6 to 7 

7.00 
5 to 7 
5 to 7 

"v.oir 



| 100 I $2.00 | $7 to 12 



73 



Name of House. 



l'UOI'KIETOUS. 



Accom- 
modate. 



Price i Price 
per day. |per week. 



LONG ISLAND, in the northern part of Lake Winnipcsaukt 

Island Home I Levi Blake I 50 

Long Island House G.K.Brown | 40 



Tip lop House | M. I). Wcntworth. 



$7 to 12 



MELVIN VILLAGE, N.H 
midway between "Wolfebori 

Bald Beak House 

Farm House 



on the northern shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, about 
and Centre Harbor. 



Lake View House. 
Lake-Side Cottage.. 



Winnipesaukee. 
Prospect House.. 
Highland House.. 

Elm House 

Lake House 



Jacob Hodgdon 

Munroc Smith 

D. D. Wingatc 

Geo. W. Oilman 

Elder T. W. Biper. 
C. H. Shepherd 



H. W. Lincoln.. 
Moses C. Pease. 
H.H. Biper.... 
A. J. Watson.. . 



14 


$1 .00 


$6.00 


10 


1.00 


6.00 


10 


1.01) 


7.00 


10 


1.(10 


5 to 6 


6 


1.00 


6.00 


8 


1.00 


6.0O 


of one of the arms of Lake 


60 




$6 to 7 


15 




5.00 


25 


$1.50 


7 to 10 


25 


1.50 


5 to 6 



MOULTONBORO', N.H., 5 miles by stage from Centre Harbor. 
The Hall, (Ossipec Mt.Bark) | B. F. Shaw, (Low'l, M;tss.) | 30 | $2 to 3 | $12 to 15 

SANDWICH (CENTRE), N.H., 9 miles by stage from Centre Harbor. 

Maple House | Ezra Gould | | | $7 to 10 

Boarding Houses from $5.00 to $7.00 per week: John A. Marston, 20; Henry F. 
Dorr, 10; Samuel H. Burleigh, 15; Albert Fogg, 15; Buth Claffey, 12. 

SANDWICH (NORTH), N.H., 13 miles by stage from Centre Harbor. 
Boarding Houses from $5.00 to $7.00 per week : Wm. McCrillis, 20; Noah S. Wat- 
son, 12; Samuel I). Wiggin, 15; Oliver M. Ambruse, 12. 

TILTON, N.H. 

Dexter House I J. F. Bryant I 50 

Andrew Oilman 20 

I D. C. Clough | 15 



$7 to 14 



WEIRS STATION, N.H. 



notel Weirs 

Lakeside House 

Winnecoelte House. 

Maple Cottage 

Endicott House 



Winnipesaukee House. 



D. B. Story 

G.W. Weeks 

I. W. & J. W. Doolittle 

Mrs. E. L. True 

S. C. Moore 

Heath & Brown 

II. W. Gordon 



250 
200 
60 
25 
20 
50 
50 



$9 to 21 
14 to 21 
9 to 15 
6 to 8 
5 to 7 
5 to 6 



WOLFEBORO', N.H 

Bavilion I 

Glendon House 

Lake House I Lucas & Chase 

Bellevue House Daniel Horn... 

Glen Cottage ! Levi Horn 

Grove House 

Fair View House 

Garlan-1 House 

Blake House 

Edgerly Farm 

Goodwin House 

Pebble Cottage 

Lake View House.. 

Meader Betreat 

Bandidl H<nise 

Boarding House 



on the eastern 6hore of Lake Winnipesaukee. 
250 



lames Lovering... 
S. N. Furber, Jr... 
Sidney Garland.... 
Curtis L. Edgerly.. 
John A. Edgerly... 

Alfred Brown 

W. B. Fu Uerton... 

C. W. Oilman 

S. A. Meader 

W. B. Randall 

Mrs. W. 1). Hersey. 

S. W. Fay .., 

Jonas W. Biper 

Clias. S. Paris 

John L. Meader 



150 
100 
40 
50 
15 
15 
20 
23 
25 
30 
15 
20 
22 
40 
15 

20 
20 
40 



$1.50" 

i.oo" 


$10 00 
7 to 10 
6.00 
6 to 10 
5 to 6 

5 to 7 
5 to 8 
5 to 7 
5 to 8 

" 6*toi6" 

5 to 6 

6 to 8 



vu 



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